New Orleans police monitor explains what Minneapolis police can expect from consent decree
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis Police Department will soon be under the thumb of the federal government.
Investigators with the U.S. Department of Justice found a pattern of racial bias, excessive force and other constitutional violations, so the DOJ is ordering a consent decree to correct the issues.
Minneapolis will be one of 17 cities with that legally-enforceable agreement.
The consent decree involves an independent monitor overseeing the department's progress, oftentimes for years.
David Douglass, a former federal prosecutor, has monitored the cops in New Orleans for almost a decade now.
"What we're talking about is massive institutional reform," Douglass said. "Generally, the departments under these consent decrees have been found to engage in years and years of unconstitutional practices."
Douglass is part of a team of monitors that includes subject matter experts like former police chiefs, government investigators, and academics.
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He could not speak specifically about his work in New Orleans.
"Generally, I think it's a pretty active process where you are both monitoring what the department is doing to implement the changes called for under the consent decree, but [also] assisting them to do it," Douglass said.
Douglass guesses the first couple years of the Minneapolis consent decree will involve more on-the-ground, hands-on supervision.
Monitors report to a judge, who ultimately determines when the department reaches compliance, and the decree can end.
"I've seen change happen," Douglass said. "I fully believe that we are entering a new chapter in terms of how policing occurs in America. These consent decrees really make a difference to people who have been harmed by these practices."
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Complying with the consent decree will cost the city. Paying the monitors alone could cost millions.
Douglass's firm reportedly asked for a four-year contract worth near $8 million when it started working with New Orleans in 2013.