WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Justice released its report on the Minneapolis Police Department on June 16, finding that the department engaged in multiple civil rights violations in the years before and after the murder of George Floyd.
According to University of Minnesota professor Michelle Phelps, the report is just the beginning. What’s next is a consent decree.
“Which means that the courts will be responsible for assigning independent court monitors who will be evaluating whether or not the department is complying with a series of agreed-upon stipulations about reform,” Phelps said.
The City of Minneapolis is currently finalizing that decree with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, but the DOJ will likely place a separate decree.
Phelps said we won’t know until negotiations take place, which could take anywhere from six months to a year.
