Minneapolis prepares to spend millions to carry out federal consent decree
Minneapolis prepares to spend millions to carry out federal consent decree
The Minneapolis City Council directed staff members to research the potential costs of implementing the recent consent decree agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Results of the DOJ investigation were released late last week. Federal investigators said they found a disturbing pattern of racial bias and the use of excessive force by Minneapolis police which violated the civil rights of civilians.
According to the Washington Post, the city of Seattle has averaged yearly expenses of $10 million to implement its consent decree changes over the past 11 years. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reported the city had spent about $3 million dollars per year over the first eight years of its consent decree with the DOJ, which began in 2014.
The chair of the Minneapolis City Council Public Safety Committee, LaTrisha Vetaw, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the city needs to get an idea of what the costs will be because the 2024 budget process starts in August.
“It’s going to cost millions of dollars, and in a lot of the meetings I sat in, they kinda compared it to Seattle and Chicago, and it was somewhere between 8 and 10 million dollars a year possibly,” Vetaw said. “That’s going to be staffing. There’s going to be a huge team of staff that we have to hire to oversee this.”
Vetaw said, in the end, no matter what the dollar amount becomes, it will be money well spent to reform MPD.
“I am ready to know what the figure is going to be, and it’s time for us to do the work,” said Vetaw. “I think everybody here is willing to pay so that our department is better.”
Mayor Jacob Frey submits his proposed 2024 budget to the City Council on Aug. 15.
Source: KSTP
