Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks on Justice Department Findings of Civil Rights Violations by the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis

<p><strong><em>Remarks as Delivered<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Thank you&comma; Attorney General Garland&period; I want to thank the city and MPD for their cooperation with our investigation&period; And I want to express my sincere gratitude to the many&comma; many community members who shared their experiences with us during the investigation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>We opened this investigation following the tragic murder of George Floyd three years ago&period; And what we found is a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct that has compromised MPD’s ability to serve and protect the people of Minneapolis&period; The findings laid out in today’s report are troubling&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I know this community is still hurting&comma; and in today’s announcement may also open up old wounds&period; There is nothing that I can say today that will undo the wrongs of the past&period; But I can tell you the Justice Department is committed to working with Minneapolis on a path forward to constitutional policing and stronger police-community trust&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I want to acknowledge that the city and MPD have made some important changes already&period; They didn’t not wait for this report to start the reform process&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I am also pleased that the Justice Department and the city have reached an Agreement in Principle&comma; in which we commit to negotiate a court-enforceable&comma; independently monitored consent decree&comma; to be filed in federal court&period; Through this Agreement&comma; the city and MPD have shown their commitment to moving expeditiously on reforms aimed at remedying the problems that we’ve have identified&period; And I commend them for taking this step&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The consent decree will provide a pathway to lasting change in Minneapolis&period; In negotiating and developing the decree&comma; we will seek input from community members&comma; police officers and city employees&period; The consent decree will require a transparent reform process&comma; so all of you can see evidence of change and evaluate progress for yourselves&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Through decades of experience&comma; we have learned – and I have seen firsthand – that consent decrees can lead to real and lasting change&period; Most recently&comma; our approach has led to significant improvement in Seattle&comma; Albuquerque and Baltimore&comma; including notable declines in use of force&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But consent decrees are only not the tool to achieve constitutional policing&period; The department also supports communities and law enforcement agencies through grant programs and technical assistance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For example&comma; we fund public safety and behavioral health partnerships aimed at reducing justice system involvement and diverting individuals with mental health or substance use disorders to treatment&period; Our grant funds are supporting the Minneapolis Behavioral Health and Wellness Clinic&comma; which serves as a crisis stabilization and drop-off center for law enforcement officers to help divert individuals to care and away from arrest&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Before I close&comma; I want to address the city’s settlement agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights &lpar;MDHR&rpar;&period; The Justice Department’s investigation is separate and independent from the MDHR investigation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>MDHR investigated whether the city and MPD engaged in systemic discriminatory practices in violation of state law&period; In our investigation&comma; we identified racial discrimination in violations of federal law&period; In addition&comma; we investigated allegations of discrimination against people with disabilities&comma; the use of excessive force and the police response to those involved in expressive activities&comma; including members of the media&period; As I said earlier&comma; we expect that we will negotiate a federal consent decree enforceable in federal court&period; MDHR’s court-enforceable agreement with the city has been filed in state court&period; We commit to working collaboratively with MDHR and the city with the shared goal of creating meaningful and sustainable reform for the people of Minneapolis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To the men and women of MPD&colon; We recognize the challenges you face&comma; the difficulties of your job&comma; here and across the country&period; We know that police officers risk their lives every day in the line of duty&period; And we know that the city and your command staff owe you the support and clear policies and training&period; And we know that you need the public’s trust to do your jobs effectively and keep your community safe&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To the people of Minneapolis&colon; Police reform does not happen overnight&comma; and it does not happen without you&period; It will take time&comma; focused effort and sustained commitment&period; In the months ahead&comma; we will need this entire community to help us craft solutions that will result in real and lasting change here in Minneapolis&period; Together we can build a Minneapolis that protects the rights&comma; safety and dignity of all&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I will now welcome Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke&comma; to discuss the findings of our investigation in greater detail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Speaker&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;asg&sol;staff-profile&sol;meet-associate-attorney-general" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Vanita Gupta&comma; Associate Attorney General<&sol;a>Topic&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; Civil RightsComponent&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Civil Rights Division<&sol;a><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;asg&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Office of the Associate Attorney General<&sol;a> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Updated June 16&comma; 2023<a href&equals;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;speech&sol;associate-attorney-general-vanita-gupta-delivers-remarks-justice-department-findings> Original Article <&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;