It is not unexpected, but the U.S. Department of Justice is requesting a pause in the new federal consent decree agreement between the Department of Justice and the Minneapolis Police Department.
The agreement details specific reforms regarding police conduct the MPD must implement following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by former officer Derek Chauvin.
It has not yet been approved by a federal judge but in January, the Minneapolis City Council voted to move forward with the consent decree. Officials with the city had hoped a judge would make a quick decision before President Trump's new Justice Department started to rollback some of the Biden Administration's civil rights reforms. It had been under negotiation since the Department of Justice issued a scathing critique of the city’s police in June 2023.
The pause has been requested to allow time for newly-appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to research the case.
The MPD is already operating under terms of a similar reform agreement with the state department of human rights.
In January just after taking office, Trump's Justice Department leadership did put a freeze on civil rights litigation, and suggested it may reconsider police reform agreements negotiated by the Biden administration.
Attorneys in the department’s Civil Rights Division were ordered not to file any new complaints, amicus briefs or other certain court papers “until further notice.” A separate memo directed attorneys to notify leadership of any settlements or consent decrees that were finalized by the Biden administration within the last 90 days which included Minneapolis, and Louisville where the city’s police force was investigated after the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020 and police treatment of protesters.
When asked about the potential disintegration of the consent decree with the federal government, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara told WCCO Radio it was already in progress.
"We've had an implementation unit that was started already that's up and running, we've had dozens of community meetings around policies that have to be changed," he said.
O'Hara said even though they've hit the ground running, there is still a lot of work ahead of them.
"These consent decrees add a whole lot more new work that did not exist in this organization before," he said. "And I think that's an opportunity for us to provide realistic, scenario-based adult learning that is appropriate, so that our officers have the skills that they need."
O'Hara said all of the new training is what officers need to create a police force that the city of Minneapolis deserves.