US' Minneapolis police department uses racist, discriminatory practices: Report

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, Texas (AA) - The US city of Minneapolis and its police department have engaged in an illegal "pattern or practice of race discrimination," according to a report released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

The department launched the study just days after then-police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

The two-year study concluded: “A pattern or practice of discrimination is present where the denial of rights consists of something more than isolated, sporadic incidents, but is repeated, routine, or of a generalized nature.”

The data was collected from more than 2,200 interviews from community members who shared their experiences with the department over a 10-year period between 2010 and 2020.

The findings are troubling, specifically that the department engages in “discriminatory, race-based policing” evidenced by “racial disparities in how MPD officers use force, stop, search, arrest, and cite people of color, particularly Black individuals.”

The report also documented “MPD officers’ use of covert social media to surveil Black individuals and Black organizations, unrelated to criminal activity” and that they used “racist, misogynistic, and disrespectful language.”

“They call Black individuals ‘(n-word)’ and ‘monkeys’ and call Black women ‘Black b****es,’” according to the report. “One MPD supervisor referred to Somali men as ‘orangutans.’

“Community members reported examples of MPD officers calling Latino individuals ‘beaners,’” the study continued, and “called fellow Black MPD officers ‘nappy head’ and ‘cattle.’”

The language used against women was profane and misogynistic, including “MPD officers calling women ‘f***ing c**t,’ ‘b**ch,’ and cussy,’ a derogatory term that combines the words “c**t” and ‘p**sy.’”

What the department does with this information is key, according to the study.

The police department has already changed some of its policies, including banning chokeholds and neck restraints, which Chauvin used on Floyd.

It has also authorized officers to intervene if they see fellow officers engaging in unauthorized force.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights plans to meet with the department's officers, city staff, and community members to come up with a decree to “address racial discrimination in policing in Minneapolis.”

“Without fundamental organizational culture changes, reforming MPD’s policies, procedures, and trainings will be meaningless,” the report concluded.