MINNEAPOLIS — In a letter to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) Commissioner Rebecca Lucero laid out a timeline for submitting a consent decree to the state court by Sept. 1, 2022.
The letter highlights three major phases in the process, beginning Monday, May 9, 2022. when bi-weekly meetings are set to begin to discuss the findings in the MDHR's recent report. These meetings will also involve community feedback. During these sessions, the letter says this will also be a outlet to provide updates on the city's current search for a new police chief for the Minneapolis Police Department.
The letter goes on to say that by the end of July 2022, the department want to hold extensive sessions to negotiate terms of the consent decree with the target date of Sept. 1, 2022 for the proposal submission.
"Given this reality, it is imperative to immediately address the state law violations identified by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and to submit a proposed consent decree to the court by September 1, 2022, to address the violations of the Minnesota Human Rights Act," the letter reads.
A consent decree is legally-binding and has been used across the country to reform police departments.
Anyone can go to MDHR's website and submit ideas for potential changes that could be part of a consent decree with the City of Minneapolis.
Commissioner Lucero called this state consent decree unprecedented. The MDHR has only issued two other ones in the last three years and none against an agency as large as MPD. One was against West Lutheran High School in 2020 and CSL Plasma in 2021.