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Minneapolis police internal affairs unit lambasted at public hearing
A national expert hired by the Minneapolis City Council heard citizens describe the investigations unit as ineffective, untrustworthy and a miserable failure.
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The Minneapolis Police Department's internal affairs unit is highly ineffective, a group of citizens and community leaders told a national crime-fighting expert at a public hearing Monday night in Minneapolis.
They argued that it does little good to complain to the unit, which is charged with investigating complaints of police misconduct and problems within the department.
"This has been an ongoing history that shows no signs of changing," said Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality. "While there might be more political will for change these days, it's ineffective."
Concerns were raised by many of more than 40 people who attended the two-hour discussion at the Urban League headquarters.
Another forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the Minneapolis College Art and Design, 2501 Stevens Av. S. Information gathered at the forums will be used in an audit of the unit.
No police officers were in attendance under the premise that citizens could talk more candidly without them present.
Residents said the unit is far less likely to sustain a complaint made by citizens than it is those made from within the department.
They expressed their views to members of the Police Executive Research Forum, a private nonprofit firm from Washington, D.C., hired last month by the City Council to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the unit.
The police research forum has longstanding ties with the department since the city's "Murderapolis" days in the mid-1990s. It has helped create crime-fighting strategies, most recently co-creating the National Summit on Violent Crime in America.
Information from this week's meetings will be compiled into a report, said Bill Tegeler, a deputy director of the forum.
That did little to satisfy attendees.
"I have no confidence that any correction will happen," said Ron Edwards, past co-chairman and current member of the Police Community Relations Council.
The unit "keeps you waiting for a long time, they're dismissive and they don't take the complaints seriously," Gross said. "I find it futile."
Tegeler asked Gross if she thinks the problem lies with the overall unit or just with certain individuals within it.
'No trust whatsoever'
"The unit has failed the community miserably," she said. "There's no trust whatsoever."
A tearful Kemen Taylor said he wouldn't stand a chance then in complaining to the unit. Taylor's family had two run-ins with police outside their North Side home on Sunday, he said. His wife and son had guns drawn on them and were put in handcuffs after officers thought their sport-utility vehicle was involved in a nearby shooting.
He was later put in handcuffs and then into a squad car after officers returned to his house to accuse him of setting off illegal firecrackers. He was later released.
He told Tegeler that he came to the meeting to hear a call for action but instead left feeling frustrated and helpless.
"I've wasted my time here because I want change," Taylor said. "We're here because we're tired of this. We want change and justice. Now!"
Terry Collins • 612-673-1790
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