Some of the most jaw-dropping statements in the state Human Rights report on MPD

[Nevilledog]

https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/04/27/some-of-the-most-jaw-dropping-statements-in-the-state-human-rights-report-on-mpd/

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights found there is probable cause that the city of Minneapolis and its police department “engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act,” according to a report released Wednesday.

The Department of Human Rights relied on hundreds of interviews, a review of 700 hours of body worn camera footage and nearly 480,000 pages of city documents to come to that conclusion.

Tucked inside the 72-page report are some astonishing findings, statements and anecdotes:

Racial profiling

* A high-level Minneapolis Police Department leader explained that officers often arrest and cite individuals with obstruction or disorderly conduct “for things that could fall under the category, arguably, of pissing off the police.”

* MPD officers were 12% more likely to stop a vehicle occupied by a person of color or Indigenous person when it was light outside and officers were more likely to see the race of the people in the car, compared to when it was dark outside.

* Current and former high-level city and police officials acknowledged that MPD stops vehicles with people of color for either no genuine reason or for low-level violations in an effort to find guns or drugs.

* One patrol officer claimed that they did not engage in racial profiling, yet later in the interview provided an example of how they might solve a crime based on racial stereotypes. This officer did not appear to understand that searching for someone based solely on racial stereotypes was, in fact, racial profiling.

* One Black man reported that MPD officers pulled him over at least seven times in the last five years for alleged minor traffic violations. During four of those stops the officers told him that they smelled marijuana in his vehicle and conducted a search while they handcuffed him, sometimes with their guns drawn and pointed at him. Officers never found any drugs in his vehicle.

* In the First Precinct, which serves downtown Minneapolis, officers were six times more likely to use some type of force against the occupants if they were Black than during traffic stops of vehicles occupied by only white people who were stopped in similar circumstances.

* One Black resident said she lost her housing because she had to decide between paying her rent or paying her attorney to challenge a wrongful citation that she received from an MPD officer in 2019. The charge was ultimately dismissed, but as of 2021, she was still living in her car.

*snip*

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[irisblue]

2. Kick

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Unreformable. K&R

[progressoid]

4. k/r

[multigraincracker]

5. K&R

[2naSalit]

6. K&R

[dchill]

7. Ugh.

[AverageOldGuy]

8. Why do I find . . .

. . . none of this surprising??

In fact, I'll bet the very same findings would fit most police departments in the country.