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Politics and Government News
Jon Collins

Here's who could oversee MPD's court-enforced settlement agreement

Members of the Minneapolis Police Department arrive at the funeral
Members of the Minneapolis Police Department stand outside in 2023. The city of Minneapolis is hosting meetings this week featuring three finalists to oversee the city’s court-enforced settlement agreement on policing.
Stephen Maturen for MPR News | 2023

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The city of Minneapolis is hosting meetings this week featuring the three finalists that want to oversee the city’s court-enforced settlement agreement with the state over Minneapolis police. It’s an important step to ensure the city meets obligations required by the state agreement and an expected federal consent decree. 

The three finalists competing for the role will be making presentations on how they’d oversee the city’s agreement with the state Department of Human Rights on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. They’ll also be answering questions from members of the public.

Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said the independent evaluator team is going to be integral to the success of the agreement.

”They’re going to provide extensive expertise and technical support to the city and to MPD,” Lucero said. “They have to review and approve everything, all the policies, all the training, all the accountability systems, all the data systems, they have to engage with both community members and police officers to gather feedback and make sure that the changes they make are effective and can last.” 

Lucero said she believes all three teams would make great candidates. Meetings are scheduled at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Plymouth Congregational Church.

The state court-enforced agreement stems from a state Department of Human Rights investigation of Minneapolis police that was started in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer. It found that Minneapolis police routinely violated residents’ civil rights, and that they arrested and used force against Black and Native American residents more often than white residents during similar circumstances. 

The city has also been investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Although that report has been released, the agency has not yet negotiated a federal consent decree with the city over policing. This could make Minneapolis the first city in the country to face two court agreements over policing from separate jurisdictions at the same time. The parties have agreed that the independent evaluator team that’s chosen will oversee both the federal and state agreements. 

Lucero said the team will be chosen by the city and Department of Human Rights with input from the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Community engagement has been a part of her agency’s process since the start of the investigation and is built into every step of the agreement, Lucero said. 

“These changes to policies, these requirements for community members to be involved for policy updates, is not just for changes in the coming year or two, it’s for future changes to policy for many years to come,” Lucero said. “The independent evaluator is required to meet with community members regularly to understand the community’s perspective, to evaluate from community members’ perspective.” 

Lucero expects the team to be chosen by the end of January. The independent evaluator is expected to start work by March 9. The judges overseeing the cases will decide when Minneapolis has met its obligations under the agreement and expected federal consent decree. It’s not uncommon for cities to remain under federal consent decrees for many years. 

The following 3 teams are being considered for the role: 

1) The nonprofit Effective Law Enforcement For All (ELEFA)

In their proposal to the city, ELEFA said the group was borne out of their experience as the judicially appointed monitors of a federal consent decree between the city of New Orleans and the U.S. Department of Justice “ordering wholesale reform of the New Orleans Police Department’s policies, training, practices, supervision and accountability,” which they said are the same issues addressed in the state agreement.

“In the course of our work, we came to appreciate that the elements of safe and effective policing are not a mystery — they are embodied in consent decree requirements — but they are too often a secret to the public,” according to ELEFA’s submission. “We recognize by bringing transparency to policing practices, consent decrees can create the conditions for collaborative reform between the public and their police departments.”

Their team is led by independent evaluator David L. Douglass, who served as deputy monitor of the New Orleans consent decree since 2014. It also includes a former police commissioner, former U.S. Department of Justice civil rights attorney and data analyst, among others. They have offices in New Orleans, La. and Silver Springs, Md.

2) Jensen Hughes

Hughes specializes in consulting with law enforcement agencies. According to their proposal to the city, they’ve worked as monitors in a state agreement over policing in Bakersfield, Calif. and a federal consent decree in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The firm also conducted the after-action report of Minneapolis response to civil unrest following Floyd’s killing. 

“Our project management approach and team of experts bring a focus on professional policing that is community-centric and grounded in best practices. Our project management approach assures our clients of an on-time and on-budget delivery,” according to Jensen Hughes’ submission to the city. 

Jensen Hughes said their team includes experts with experience in law enforcement leadership, community engagement, police reform, civilian oversight and data analytics. The firm has offices across the world. 

3) Relman Colfax

Colfax is a civil rights law firm based in Washington D.C.

According to Relman Colfax’s submission to the city: “The degree to which MPD engages in meaningful and lasting change is largely within the control of MPD leadership and officers, but we will provide clear guidance on how that change will be measured, support in getting there and a platform for Minneapolis’ communities to meaningfully and consistently engage in the process.”

Relman Colfax’s team includes a former Minnesota police chief who also served as a Minneapolis officer, experts who have served on other monitoring teams and civil rights attorneys. The team will be led by Reed Colfax, an expert in discrimination law.