Since the killing of George Floyd May 25, many Minneapolis elected leaders and residents have been vocal about changes needed to the police department. Tuesday Mayor Jacob Frey announced new protocols related to internal conduct investigations officials hope will result in more discipline being doled out.
Frey’s announcement comes exactly two weeks after a report from the Minnesota Reformer found 60 percent of nearly 2,000 citizen complaints from 2013 to 2019 resulted in zero discipline. More than one-third resulted in coaching, 2 percent in mediation and 3 percent, or 53 total, resulted in discipline. According to the online news site’s report, officers could be on paid leave for extended periods as the investigations dragged on for an average of 539 days. Officers could be promoted or even retire before the process comes to a conclusion. Allegations can range from excessive force to discrimination to retaliation and harrassment.
With Tuesday’s announcement that the staff members from the city attorney’s office will analyze evidence and provide legal advice to police chief Medaria Arradondo, Frey hopes it will solidify investigations before they reach arbitration.
“We want to take every reason that stems from city hall from overturning a disciplinary decision off the table,” Frey said in a video press conference.
Frey said it makes sense for the city attorneys to be embedded in the process from the outset.
“They’ve seen arbitration decisions overturned when they shouldn’t have been,” Frey said. “They’ve seen the city defend officers who should have been removed from the department long ago. They know where the pitfalls are and they’re uniquely situated to address them.”
Arradondo, a former internal affairs commander himself, said the assistance from the city attorney’s office will be “very helpful” as he ultimately makes the decision after the information has been presented.
“One of the things that we have not done is we have not really had their guidance and input at the front end,” Arradondo said. “That’s very important so that from the time the investigators receive the initial complaint to as they’re working that case until its ultimate outcome, or certainly when that case is completed comes on my desk.”
In the past, the city attorney’s office would fold in during the arbitration process when the level of discipline was being considered.
City Litigation Manager Tracy Fussy said having multiple eyes on cases will be beneficial in strengthening them, particularly before an arbitration decision is overturned; but she said it likely will not speed up the discipline process.
“Initially there could very well be a learning curve where it takes a little more time to adjust to a more rigorous schedule and how an attorney would handle it,” Fussy said. “But I’ve met the investigators in (the Office of Police Conduct Review) and they are incredibly intelligent. They will pick up the new process and work with us. I think the focus should be on the quality of the investigation, rather than running through them more quickly or more efficiently. Obviously we want to be efficient, but we don’t want to be quick for brevity’s sake. We want to get it done right.”
In response to concerns regarding the city attorney's duties in advocating for the city while also further embedding the department in the officer disciplinary investigative process, City Attorney Jim Rowader provided WCCO Radio with this statement:
The City Attorney’s Office has a fidelity to truth and to the integrity of our institutions, not to individual officers. And in the case of disciplinary decisions – where the interest of an officer and the interests of the department most often diverge – it is their duty to defend the findings of fact on the City’s and our residents’ behalf and effectively prosecute the officer.
In principle and practice, our City Attorney’s Office has every interest in stronger investigative work.
