Vowing to earn back the trust of the community, today Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced that the MPD would immediately suspend contract negotiations with the police union until the federation agrees to “forward-looking” reform measures and a top-to-bottom review of the existing contract.
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Chief Arradondo also committed to implementing a real-time, evidence-based warning and intervention system rooted in research from the University of Chicago on police behavior. The new system will help identify early officer misconduct and proven strategies for intervention. These measures are just a few of the many reforms that Arradondo stated would be unveiled in the coming days.
Arradondo applauded the community involvement in recording police misconduct like the cell phone-recorded fatal arrest of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day. Floyd’s death has galvanized the nation and helped spark a national movement for police reform. The chief encouraged community members to continue to document police misconduct. “Record, call a friend, yell out, call 911,” said Arradondo.
While Arradondo said community involvement is key to reforming the police department, he said he was not in favor of defunding the MPD, in response to the announcement by nine city council members who this week announced plans to defund the department. The chief stressed that his job is to ensure the safety of Minneapolis residents and until there is a “robust” plan to ensure safety, he is not in favor of such actions.
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Earlier in the week, Mayor Jacob Frey also said he was not in favor of defunding the MPD, but wanted to move forward with reforms. He applauded the chief’s measures on Wednesday. “We don’t just need a new contract with the police,” said Frey in a statement, “We need a new compact between the people of Minneapolis and the people trusted to protect and serve—and we need to go farther than we ever have in making sweeping structural reform.”
—Information provided, in part, by the City of Minneapolis.
