Minneapolis City Council Approves Federally Mandated Police Reform

The Minneapolis City Council on Monday approved the terms of a federal consent decree outlining sweeping reforms to the city’s police department.

The process started after George Floyd died in custody of Minneapolis police officers in 2020. The city hasn’t shared the tentative agreement, but based on other consent decrees in other U.S. cities, it could involve changes to the use of force or bias awareness training, KSTP reports.

Kristen Clarke, Assistant U.S. Attorney General with the Civil Rights Division, said the consent decree, if approved, will require the city and the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) to follow the court order under the supervision of an independent monitor and she said it covers several areas of concern.

“Limiting the use of force, closely regulating or eliminating some types of force altogether and adopting a system to thoroughly and fairly investigate uses of force,” said Clarke.

This comes a year and a half after a DOJ investigation found civil rights violations by the city and police department