The city of Brooklyn Park is hiring a consultant to study its police department and make recommendations for violence prevention and improving relationships between law enforcement and residents of color.
It is the latest in a series of steps toward police changes that the City Council started taking after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. St. Paul-based Wilder Research will start conducting the study in December and is expected to return to the council in 2021 with recommendations for addressing violence and improving policing, according to a city news release.
The study's cost has not been finalized, according to a city spokeswoman.
Mayor Jeffrey Lunde said in a statement that most Brooklyn Park residents are people of color and 1 in 5 are foreign-born.
"We have always worked to have understanding between officers and our diverse community members," he said. "Hiring Wilder Research is a proactive approach to see if there is anything else we can do to continue building trust between our officers and community members."
EMMA NELSON
