A newly released investigation found that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) engaged in race-based policing, failed to hold officers accountable for wrongdoing, and inappropriately used accounts social media outlets to target black people and black organizations.
In its report released Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) detailed how officers have been probing, searching, arresting, citing and using excessive force against Black and Indigenous people at a higher rate. than their white counterparts.
Of 14 people MPD agents have killed since 2010, 13 were black or indigenous, the report noted.
The department said it reviewed 700 hours of body-worn camera footage and nearly 480,000 pages of documents, finding MPD officers used racist, misogynistic and otherwise disrespectful language toward suspects, witnesses and bystanders.
“When MPD officers shout obscenities at community members, it is difficult for prosecutors to do their job and therefore undermines the criminal justice system,” the department wrote in its report.
The MDHR report also noted that the department’s accountability systems are ineffective in holding officers accountable for misconduct, noting that cases of police misconduct are not properly investigated or addressed, which means that agents are not systematically held accountable.
The report also found that the MPD used various social media accounts to target black leaders, black organizations and elected officials without public safety objectives during the 10-year period.
“Specifically, MPD officers sent friend requests, commented on posts, sent private messages, and contributed to discussions,” the report said. “In doing so, the officers posed as like-minded people and claimed, for example, to have met the targeted person at a protest or a previous protest. In social media posts and messages, MPD officers used language to deepen racial stereotypes associated with black people, especially black women.
The human rights agency launched its investigation amid the fallout from the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020, which sparked national outrage and protests demanding an end to police brutality and racial inequality .
Derek Chauvin, the officer convicted of murder for kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, asked the court this week to appeal his conviction. Chauvin is currently serving a 22 and a half year prison sentence.
“After the murder of George Floyd, calls to end discriminatory policing reverberated around the world,” MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in a statement.
“These demands remain equally urgent today with the announcement of investigation findings that paint a troubling picture of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department engaging in a pattern of racial discrimination over the past decade”, Lucero added.
