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What Resources do we need to address the issue (i.e., money, time, physical space, skills)?

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What Resources do we need to address the issue (i.e., money, time, physical space, skills)?

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What is our vision for the community/town/city/region/world we are trying to create?

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What is our vision for the community/town/city/region/world we are trying to create?

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Action in service of Sustainable Development doesn't look just one way.  We encourage you to think free and to think broadly and creatively; Make the impossible possible!

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Action in service of Sustainable Development doesn't look just one way.  We encourage you to think free and to think broadly and creatively; Make the impossible possible!

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What Relationships need to be developed?

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What Relationships need to be developed?

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What is the dominant cultural narrative about this issue?

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What is the dominant cultural narrative about this issue?

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Who needs to be there for change to happen, for a decision to be made, for the process to be inclusive?

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Who needs to be there for change to happen, for a decision to be made, for the process to be inclusive?

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Structural power - weapons, laws that support their use of force

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Disruptive power - ability to gather large groups of people, communication through social media to appeal to public

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Disruptive power - presence on streets blocks flow of traffic, garners attention and media

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Positional power - expected to provide leadership in time of crisis, ability to call in National Guard, appeal to public,

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Positional power - ability to create laws, responsible to voters they represent. Financial power - set budget for the state

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Positional power - set city code and contracts with police

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Financial power - donations to organizations they support

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Financial power - ability to provide financial support to non-profits, assets to communities to rebuild, investment in stores in affected communities

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Enough is Enough! That is both the conclusion and the title of this report, a 150-year performance review of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). The report is the product of an investigation into the conduct of the department over the fifteen decades since its founding in 1867. It includes a survey of its current role and impact, especially on marginalized communities, and an exploration of viable alternatives to the policing model. With this report, we hope to take the idea of police-free communities out of the realm of fantasy and place it firmly in the public agenda as a practical necessity. You can download a PDF copy of the report, listen to the the whole report as an audio book, or read the following sections online.

The first section will establish that the MPD has always acted as the enforcement arm of the economic and political elite. Like its fellow departments around the country, it is at the front end of a system of mass incarceration that devours black, brown and indigenous peoples, stripping them of voting rights, job prospects and dignity, keeping wages low and people divided. The US police system, we contend, is not reformable. Efforts to reform it - aimed at addressing recruitment, training, discipline, oversight and transparency - are quickly and effectively neutralized by the organized opposition of police departments and their unions and professional associations.

Part two speaks of the present. It features interviews by MPD150's interview team and by partner organizations. We share the reflections of professionals (in areas such as mental health, domestic and sexual violence, emergency response, and homelessness) whose work is impacted by the police. They report that the militarized, combative presence of police is not the medicine needed in our traumatized communities. Even the social service functions absorbed into the police system over the years would be better-served by removing them from department control. We also hear from community members who contend with police intervention in their daily lives. The constant reality of intimidation, harassment and bullying are the wide base of the police misconduct iceberg of which murder by police is just the tip.

In the third section, we turn to face the future. What might it look like if we addressed our communities' needs as neighbors and creative problem solvers instead of relying on force and imprisonment? Here we draw on the insights from our interviews, the promise of existing alternatives, and examples from other places to begin sketching the outlines of the police-free communities of the future. We have no shortage of ancient cultural traditions, innovative social programs, and community resilience strategies from which to draw.

The transition to a resilience-based Minneapolis will not come overnight. It will require a succession of steps that starts with limiting the harm caused daily by police power, and begins the orderly transfer of resources from the police to projects, programs, and grassroots initiatives that meet people's emergency and long-term needs. Neighborhoods with good jobs, affordable homes, healthy food, and green places to play produce less conflict and fewer mental health crises than ones that feature empty lots, under-funded schools, and starvation wages. Like any process of change, the transitional period will raise new questions and pose new problems. It will, naturally, meet with concerted resistance. The solutions that result, however, will be designed to help all our communities thrive, not contain and divide them.

The material presented here turns the common wisdom on its head. The idea of a police-free future is neither naive nor unrealistic. It is the only pragmatic solution to the challenge of a police system rooted in the era of slavery and Indian removal which has defeated every reform effort thrown at it. To believe that we are just one or two reforms away from turning the police into a trusted partner of the very communities it has treated like enemies to be conquered for a century and a half... that is the ultimate in magical thinking!

It is time for Minneapolis to look this problem in the face and begin a new, more courageous, conversation about our future, a conversation that includes possibilities that the police, media pundits, and corporate lobbyists tell us are out of bounds. This report is a contribution to that discussion.

You can read the whole report in PDF format, or take it piece by piece on our website. We've broken out the three main parts of the print report into the Past, Present, and Future categories. In addition to the print materials, you can find a Timeline of MPDs history, and some Alternatives to calling the police both now and in the future.

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Enough is Enough! That is both the conclusion and the title of this report, a 150-year performance review of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). The report is the product of an investigation into the conduct of the department over the fifteen decades since its founding in 1867.

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African American officers targeted by other police in discriminatory action

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Disbanded police force, created new community relationship

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In 2012, their police department disbanded. The new police force has become the gold standard for police and community relations.

CAMDEN, N.J. - After the protests, what is next? The entire country is calling for change, but what should be done?

The model for policing in the future might be in Camden County, New Jersey. Less than a decade ago, the Camden City Police Department disbanded, and the new police force has created harmony with the community.

A little over two hours outside of D.C., Camden County Police marched alongside protesters and condemned the death of George Floyd at the hands of officers.

"Mr. Floyd should have never died at the hands of an officer," Camden County Captain Zsakheim James said."That should have never happened that way, the sanctity of life is what we are sworn to protect."

Captain James will tell you, they just do things differently in Camden County. But it hasn't always been that way.

"[10 years ago] we were running from gunshot to gunshot," he said.

The county had a reputation for being one of the most violent areas in the country. The police and community relationship wasn't great either. There were more than 60 excessive force complaints annually.

Until things changed in 2012.

"Everybody was laid off," he explained. "Everyone was given the opportunity to join the new department."

The new Camden County police department trained officers in a completely different manner.

"Every officer that graduates the police department immediately goes on a foot beat and gets introduced to the community," Capt. James said. "We knocked on doors, we introduced our selves to the community as the guardians we are."

Camden County Officers continually undergo implicit bias training. They revamped the department's "Use of Force" policy.

"The sanctity of life is paramount," Capt. James explained. "Our use of force policy says we use the minimal amount of force to obtain our law enforcement objectives."

That all sounds great. But, does it work?

In less than 10 years the department went from more than 60 excessive force complaints down to just three. This decrease in complaints has helped in other areas.

"We've dropped crime to a record low. A 40 percent low. It's the lowest it's been in 50 years."

Capt. James believes that the basis of their department, protecting the "sanctity of life first" is a great starting point for any police force.

"By no means are we saying we are the best, we just know what seems to work for us," he said.

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This department's approach to stopping systemic racism could be a blueprint for America

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In 2012, their police department disbanded. The new police force has become the gold standard for police and community relations. CAMDEN, N.J. - After the protests, what is next? The entire country is calling for change, but what should be done? The model for policing in the future might be in Camden County, New Jersey.

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State sues police for civil rights violation

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The state of Minnesota launched a sweeping civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday, a week after a white officer is alleged to have killed a black man during an arrest, officials said.

The probe, stemming from the death of George Floyd, will be designed to root out "systemic racism that is generations deep," Gov. Tim Walz told reporters.

"The Minnesota of Department of Human Rights is filing a commissioner's charge of discrimination to launch a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department," Walz said.

"The investigation will review MPD's policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color."

Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said the agency served papers on the city at about 1 p.m. CT Tuesday.

Lucero said that while investigators will have subpoena power, she expects the city to be open with records and that she hopes to have findings in "several months."

"We're really hoping that this is something ... we can move very quickly on, because of shared values and goals around this issue," she said.
Full coverage of George Floyd's death and protests around the country
The Minneapolis City Council said it would assist.

"We welcome and fully support the Minnesota Department of Human Rights' robust investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department," according to a council statement.

"We urge the state to use its full weight to hold the Minneapolis Police Department accountable for any and all abuses of power and harms to our community and stand ready to aid in this process as full partners."

The city lawmakers said their efforts to oversee the police department have "been historically constrained by the City Charter and state law," so they "welcome new tools to pursue transformational, structural changes."

Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement, "For our city to begin healing, we need to deliver justice for George Floyd and his family and enact deep, meaningful policing reforms."

Minneapolis and other cities across the nation have been swept up in mass protests against police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of Floyd's death.

"For years in Minneapolis, police chiefs and elected officials committed to change have been thwarted by police union protections and laws that severely limit accountability among police departments," Frey said.

"I welcome today's announcement because breaking through those persistent barriers, shifting the culture of policing, and addressing systemic racism will require all of us working hand-in-hand."

It was a week ago Monday when Minneapolis police responded to a call reporting that Floyd might have passed a bad $20 bill.

Four city police officers eventually handcuffed Floyd and pinned him face down on the pavement as Officer Derek Chauvin put his knee into the prone man's neck for nearly nine minutes.

All four officers were fired, and Chauvin was arrested Friday, charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Before he died, Floyd repeatedly said "I can't breathe" as passersby recorded the incident and pleaded for the officers to get off his neck.

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State of Minnesota files civil rights charge against Minneapolis Police Department

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The state of Minnesota launched a sweeping civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday, a week after a white officer is alleged to have killed a black man during an arrest, officials said. The probe, stemming from the death of George Floyd, will be designed to root out "systemic racism that is generations deep," Gov.