The state of Minnesota is investigating the Minneapolis Police Department following the death of George Floyd, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday.
Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey endorsed the investigation and pointed out that previous probes had been “thwarted by police union protections and laws that severely limit accountability among police departments,” according to NBC News.
“The Minnesota of Department of Human Rights is filing a commissioner’s charge of discrimination to launch a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department,” Walz said on Twitter.
Our Minnesota Department of Human Rights today filed a civil rights charge against the MPD. @mnhumanrights will investigate the department’s policies, procedures, and practices over the past 10 years to determine if they engaged in systemic discriminatory practices.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) June 2, 2020
My administration will use every tool at our disposal to deconstruct generations of systemic racism in Minnesota. This effort is one of many steps to come in our effort to restore trust with communities that have been unseen and unheard for far too long.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) June 2, 2020
The civil rights investigation will aim to enact “deep, meaningful policing reform,” Frey said in a statement according to NBC News. The investigation will probe the department’s policies and procedures to determine whether the department has engaged in discriminatory practices.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is launching the investigation, which Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said will differ from past investigations of the police department because the state will work with city leaders to try and make quick changes, she said according to Star Tribune.
It is also the first time the Human Rights Department has probed the largest police department in the state.
Lucero expects the city to be open with records and that they will have findings in “several months,” according to NBC News.
Frey said an agreement with the state could be needed for change due to police unions.
“For years in Minneapolis, police chiefs and elected officials committed to change have been thwarted by police union protections and laws that severely limit accountability among police departments,” Frey said according to Star Tribune. “Breaking through those persistent barriers, shifting the culture of policing, and addressing systemic racism will require all of us working hand in hand.”
The Minneapolis Police Federation president Lt. Bob Kroll has said he’s fighting to help the officers involved in Floyd’s death get their jobs back because they were fired without due process, according to CBS Minnesota.
Derek Chauvin, who is being charged with second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd, and three other officers who were at the scene were fired the day after Floyd died. (RELATED: Charges Against Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin Elevated To 2nd-Degree Murder In George Floyd Case)
“I’ve worked with the four defense attorneys that are representing each of our four terminated individuals under criminal investigation, in addition with our labor attorneys to fight for their jobs,” Kroll said in a letter to union members that surfaced on social media according to MPR News.
The MPD, in the past, has typically conducted internal investigations and then forwarded results to a discipline panel in cases involving allegations of officer wrongdoing, MPR reported.