A Hennepin County Judge has approved the count-enforceable police reform agreement between the City of Minneapolis and the Department of Human Rights.
The so-called consent decree now legally requires Minneapolis to implement police reform measures that have already been agreed upon. It follows a finding by the Human Rights Department that the NPD engaged in a pattern of discriminatory policing for years leading up to the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Some community groups testified in opposition to some details of the agreement. An independent evaluator will be hired soon to guarantee the agreement is enforced. The Star Tribune reported that a handful of activist groups asked the judge not to accept the agreement without amendments.
That independent evaluator might also could also be part of the federal monitoring of the Department of Justice consent decree which is still being worked out.
Community listening sessions will follow, with dates to be posted on MDHR's website.
The Department issued a scathing report last year critical of how police officers were trained and detailing how MPD had engaged in racial discrimination in many areas over several years.
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That was followed by the findings of a two-year investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department by the United States Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced those findings in Minneapolis in June.
"The Minneapolis Police Department and City of Minneapolis engaged in a patter or practice of conduct that violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution," said the Attorney General. "There is also reasonable cause to believe they engaged in conduct that violates Title Six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Safe Streets Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act."