The Minneapolis City Council on Monday unanimously approved an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the city's police training and use-of-force policies in response to a 2020 police killing. George Floyd.
The agreement includes and builds on changes made by Minneapolis police since former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of killing Floyd after kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes during his arrest in May 2020, sparking nationwide riots.
The agreement, known as the consent decree, requires officers to “promote the sanctity of human life as the highest priority in their activities” and “carry out their law enforcement duties with professionalism and respect for the dignity of every person.”
Officers must not allow race, gender, or ethnicity “to influence any decision to use force, including the amount or type of force used.”
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Assistant Attorney General Christine Clark of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, flanked by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, left, and Minneapolis Police Department Chief Brian O'Hara, speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis, Monday, January 23, 2019. May 6, 2025. (AP)
The agreement will place the police department under the court's long-term supervision. The department has already been in negotiations with the federal government since the Justice Department issued a stinging rebuke to Minneapolis police in 2023.
After a two-year investigation, the Justice Department accused the department of engaging in systemic racial discrimination, violating constitutional rights and ignoring the safety of people in its custody for years before Floyd's death. The Justice Department said the officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force,” and violated speech rights protected by the First Amendment.
“George Floyd’s death was not just a tragedy, it was a driving force for the city and the nation,” Assistant Attorney General Christine Clark, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said Monday at a news conference. “All eyes remain on Minneapolis, and with this consent decree, we now have a roadmap for reform that will help this community heal while strengthening trust between law enforcement and the people they serve.”
The Minneapolis City Council approved a deal with the federal government to reform the city's police training and use of force policies over the killing of George Floyd. (Stephen Maturin/Getty Images)
An independent monitor will oversee changes to police training and policies, which must be approved by a judge.
“I want to thank our community for standing together and united on this, and for being patient with us as we come through a very long and challenging journey,” City Council President Elliot Payne said Monday after the vote. “We're just getting started, and we know we have a long way to go. Our success will only come when we all work together on what is arguably one of the most important issues in the life of our city.”
In 2023, a state court approved a similar agreement between Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after the agency issued its own report the previous year. The state investigation concluded that City police have engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination for at least ten years.
The Justice Department has opened 12 similar investigations into state and local law enforcement agencies across the country since April 2021, including several in response to high-profile police killings. If approved by the courts, the Ministry of Justice will implement 16 regularizations of policing “patterns and practices” across the country.
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Council President Elliot Payne, center, and the Minneapolis City Council vote to go into closed session immediately after the session to pass a federal consent decree providing reforms to the police department in Minneapolis, Monday, January 6, 2025. (AP)
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The Department of Justice has reached agreements with Seattle, New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri. A consent decree with Louisville, Kentucky, over the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor is awaiting court approval. The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, last month objected to efforts to pass a consent decree, arguing that the city has made too many positive changes since the beating death of Tire Nichols.
During his first administration, President-elect Donald Trump criticized consent decrees, viewing them as anti-police.
the Agreement in Minneapolis Becoming final before Trump returns to office later this month would make it harder for him to stop the deal, because the changes would need court approval.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
