AG Ellison: State, Minneapolis consent decree on policing is ‘historic’

The consent decree between the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the City of Minneapolis is historic. For the first time ever, very significant steps that the City and the Minneapolis Police Department have bound themselves to take to build community trust and make every Minneapolis resident and police officer safer, centered around transformational changes to organizational culture, will be enforceable in court. As someone who has been working for human rights and safer communities in policing for 30 years, I am very hopeful.

I want to thank Commissioner Lucero, MDHR staff, and the Walz–Flanagan administration for their investigation and steady pursuit of a settlement that will benefit all Minneapolitans and all Minnesotans. My thanks also go to Mayor Frey, the City Council — which approved the consent decree today on a unanimous vote — Public Safety Commissioner Alexander, former Acting Chief Huffman, and Chief O’Hara for their willingness to stay at the table and work through historically hard challenges to get to this resolution. I also very much want to thank the staff of my office who represented MDHR throughout the process for their commitment, diligence, and professionalism.

Now the challenge is implementation. Other cities have implemented similar agreements in ways that have centered human rights and brought about dramatically increased community trust and safety for all people. Minneapolis can, too. I commit to doing everything in my power to help.   

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