Lessons learned from failed riot response

For Twin Cities residents who lived through it — either on the streets or watching on TV — it's always been clear that the city of Minneapolis failed on many fronts during the unrest following George Floyd's murder in May 2020.

A 86-page after-action report released this week confirms just how badly things went as rioting caused an estimated $500 million in damage across the Twin Cities in the 10 days after Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

Maryland-based risk management firm Hillard Heintze, whose staff includes former law enforcement officers, produced the report based on 2,400 documents, interviews with 90 government workers and community members, and about 30 hours of body-camera footage.

Researchers found that residents, business owners, first responders and even city employees generally felt abandoned. Confusion reigned about who was in charge. Some first responders reported receiving little guidance from supervisors, and police made inconsistent decisions about use of crowd control munitions. And in some cases the lack of response by police and firefighters left residents to fend for themselves.

The report found that Minneapolis had an emergency operations plan that is "well written, comprehensive and consistent with nationally recognized practices," but that Mayor Jacob Frey's office did not "ensure the appropriate implementation" of that plan, hampering the city's response.

In the days after the worst of the rioting, the Editorial Board blamed the botched response on failed city and state leadership and communication. And in its re-election endorsement of Frey last fall, the board acknowledged that the mayor's office and state officials were ill-prepared to handle a crisis they should have anticipated as soon as they watched the horrifying video of Floyd's death in police custody.

There is plenty of blame to go around — whether the reasons for the failures stemmed from the politics of the time, lack of leadership or poor decisions under pressure. But what matters now is that the city and its partners in state government and in St. Paul effectively address the problems identified in the report.

To that end, the report suggests that the city must increase oversight and accountability for adhering to orders, training and civil unrest response. It offers more than two dozen recommendations, including strengthening and practicing emergency protocols proactively; improving communication between employees and departments; improving crowd-control training, and better communication with event and protest leaders.

Frey told an editorial writer on Friday that he and his staff are "absolutely" moving to implement the report's recommendations. He stressed that he repeatedly asked for help from the state during the unrest, and that after the rioting he requested the independent review. The mayor added that his office took initial steps to enact the emergency plan but fell short on full implementation and communication.

A major problem at the time, he said, was a city structure that lacked the "executive system of governance" needed, "especially for an event as chaotic as May 2020." He said the rioting was especially challenging because there were incidents in "two-thirds of the city," and it was difficult to tell the difference between peaceful protesters and "those who were causing harm."

Frey recently announced that the city has hired a search firm and appointed a committee to help select the city's next police chief. We trust that experience and effectiveness in handling emergency situations will be on the list of qualifications.

As the Hillard Heintze report concluded, "Even though the level of protest and violence was unprecedented, better planning, organization, communication and adherence to command-and-control principles by the MPD and city officials would have led to a better response."