Adding yet more impetus to the urgent call for reform, a state investigation found that the Minneapolis Police Department routinely violated civil rights law over the past decade by engaging in a pattern of racial discrimination.
The findings released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights won't be a surprise to the thousands who have protested against race-based brutality and discrimination by the MPD. In many ways, the report just validates those concerns and complaints. The Human Rights Department found that discrimination is not present in "isolated or sporadic incidents" but that it is "repeated, routine or of a generalized nature."
The report is a deeply researched and valuable analysis of the MPD and why it must change. And it faults city leadership for not doing more to hold officers accountable and change the culture of the department around its treatment of people of color — especially Black citizens.
