The Minneapolis City Council unanimously passes the "Allison's Law" proposal to overhaul domestic violence investigations.
Prompted by the tragic 2024 death of an Indigenous woman in her North Loop apartment, the proposal calls for sweeping reforms in how police and medical examiners investigate domestic violence cases.
The resolution urges Minnesota lawmakers to adopt these critical changes statewide rather than establishing them within a city ordinance.
Because the state's 2026 legislative session is already over, the proposal will need to be formally reintroduced next year.
The initiative is a response to the 2024 death of 47-year-old Allison Lussier. She was found dead in her apartment following numerous 911 calls reporting abuse. An independent audit of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) found dozens of issues and failures in how officers handled Lussier's domestic violence reports.
During an April City Council meeting, Ward 9 Council member Jason Chavez asked Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara to apologize to the family of Lussier.
"Can you publicly apologize to Alison's family today," Chavez asked.
"Yes," O'Hara responded, then turning to them, apologizing and adding they are "committed to moving forward."
Chavez also pointed to disproportionate levels of violence in the city's Indigenous community.
"And I want to be clear that the findings of this after-action review represents a devastating pattern of what happens to missing and murdered Indigenous relatives," says Chavez. "In particular, Indigenous women and girls go missing and face disproportionately high levels of violence. Sadly, too often their cases are met with indifference, delayed response, and outright dismissal by the very same systems meant to protect them."
