Under the terms of a historic federal agreement, Minneapolis police would no longer be allowed to initiate a foot pursuit simply because a person flees upon seeing an officer.
Other changes bar officers from working off duty if they’re on administrative leave or under investigation for misconduct, and from handcuffing a child younger than 14 years old.
The 170-page tentative agreement, filed in court late Monday afternoon, addresses a wide range of procedures, from providing mental health resources to those undergoing a behavioral crisis to building additional layers of supervision meant to root out excessive force and expose patterns of dangerous conduct.
That legal agreement still awaits signoff from a federal judge.
It is the result of more than six months of negotiations between city staff and the U.S. Department of Justice — and comes nearly 18 months after a report of initial findings determined that Minneapolis police engaged in a pattern of racist and abusive behavior that deprives people of their constitutional rights.
The consent decree reinforces many policies put in place in the aftermath of George Floyd’s police murder, including the selection and review of the department’s field-training program. Another emphasizes the duty to intervene when an officer sees a colleague of any rank breaking the rules. Failing to do so could result in the same level of discipline as the officer who committed the actual offense.
A court-enforceable agreement — one of the federal government’s most aggressive tools for reining in problem police departments — would resolve all claims brought by the DOJ.
It stipulates that Minneapolis and its police “do not concede” the allegations in the report or “that there is a pattern or practice of unlawful behavior.” However, the city acknowledges that the findings raised “issues of great importance” to the community and the parties “engaged in good faith negotiations to resolve this matter to avoid the time and expense of taxpayer-funded litigation.”