Minneapolis agreed Friday to ban chokeholds by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they see using improper force, in the first concrete steps to remake the city’s police department since George Floyd’s death.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis agreed Friday to ban chokeholds by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they see using improper force, in the first concrete steps to remake the city’s police department since George Floyd’s death. The changes are part of a stipulation between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which launched a civil rights investigation this week in response to the death of Floyd. The City Council approved the agreement 12-0. Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said the changes are necessary to stop ongoing harm to people of color „who have suffered generational pain and trauma as a result of systemic and institutional racism.““This is just a start,“ Lucero said. „There is a lot more work to do here, and that work must and will be done with speed and community engagement.“The agreement requires court approval and would become enforceable in court, unlike the department’s current policies on the use of force and duties to intervene. It would require officers to immediately report to their superiors when they see use of any neck restraint or chokehold.
