Will the MPD / DOJ Consent Decree be POSTed?

I haven't read the 92(?) page US Department of Justice report nor much of the coverage of this morning’s announcement of its findings: Justice Department finds pattern of discriminatory policing in Minneapolis. I’m also skeptical about the amount of time estimated to be necessary to negotiate a consent decree (Justice delayed is justice denied?). On the other hand, it could be interesting to see if anyone demands an early approval that builds on recent changes in Minnesota’s police licensing standards.

The POST Board adopted new rules effective May 30, 2023 for law enforcement officers related to background investigations, psychological screening, minimum selection standards and new standards of conduct. 

The new standards of conduct have provisions that appear to be particularly relevant, including:

Prohibited Conduct related to law enforcement authority: Use of Force:

• Engage in unreasonable or excessive use of force; unauthorized use of force, or unauthorized use of deadly force;

• Fail to intercede when observing another officer using force beyond that which is objectively reasonable (Minn. Stat. 626.8475);

• Fail to report any use of force violations by another employee or officer in writing within 24 hours to the chief law enforcement officer (Minn. Stat. 626.8475);

I am not a lawyer nor a police officer nor a politician, etc., but it seems to me it would simplify reforms and enhance accountability if an initial Consent Decree incorporated all the new standards as court enforceable provisions. Does that make sense to you?

Perspective

By Amy King

When I see the two cops laughing 

after one of them gets shot

because this is TV and one says

while putting pressure on the wound,

Haha, you're going to be fine,

and the other says, I know, haha!, 

as the ambulance arrives—

I know the men are white.

I think of a clip from the hours 

of amateur footage I've seen

when another man at an intersection

gets shot, falls, and bleeds from a hole

the viewer knows exists only by the way 

the dark red pools by the standing cop's feet,

gun now holstered, who

yells the audience back to the sidewalk.

I know which one is dying 

while black and which one stands by white. 

I think this morning about the student 

in my class who wrote a free write line 

on the video I played

that showed a man pouring water

on his own chest, "...the homoerotic 

scene against a white sky" with no other men 

present. Who gets to see and who follows

what script? I ask my students. 

Whose lines are these and by what hand

are they written?

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