The Minneapolis City Council to Vote on Reforming the Police Oversight Process
Written by SJ - 11/28/2022
The Minneapolis City Council will soon be voting on whether or not to reform the city’s police civilian review process with a community commission on police oversight. However, community advocates aren’t convinced that the proposed ordinance will create the tangible change many have hoped for.
The proposed community commission on police oversight is a far cry from what advocates asked. Coalitions like Minneapolis for Community Control of the Police and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar—which was created after Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by two members of the Minneapolis Police Department in 2015–have long fought for the creation of Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC). They even drafted a charter amendment which can be found here. The groups allege that wording from that charter amendment has been used in the wording of the official reform ordinance, but that it’s been watered down and manipulated to the point of being ineffective.
Activists called for the CPAC to consist of thirteen elected residents, one from each ward. Additionally, the commission was not to include any police or police organizations, and elected members would be able to make final decisions regarding the police disciplinary process and policies.
Instead of the CPAC, the city will be voting on a Community Commission on Police Oversight, which many groups believe is not sufficient. If the city council votes in favor of it, the Community Commission on Police Oversight will consist of 15 residents, all of whom will be appointed instead of elected. 13 will be appointed by the city council and 2 by the mayor. Police and police organizations will be involved in the process, including participating on review boards. Ultimately, the commission will only be able to recommend disciplinary action, but the final decision will be left to the chief of police.
The city conducted its final community forum regarding the proposed ordinance Monday evening via a virtual meeting. Just hours before, advocates from Minneapolis for Community Control of the Police and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar gathered at City Hall in protest of the ordinance.
The Facebook event for the protest and press conference read, “Minneapolis residents are tired of toothless work groups, panels, and community review boards with little to no power to stop or prevent police violence. We deserve better than a commission with unclear structure that is staffed by law enforcement and unelected yes-men chosen by the mayor’s office. Ultimately, this is a way for the city council to pretend to do something about police brutality without actual accountability of the police. We need real substantive changes to the structure of police oversight in Minneapolis.”
The Minneapolis City Council’s Public Health & Safety Committee will conduct a public hearing on Wednesday, November 30th at 1:30pm (City Hall, Rm. 317) to consider the proposed reform. The agenda for that meeting can be found here.