MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
To Minneapolis now, where officials have agreed to overhaul the city's police training program to address abuses. This stems from the murder of George Floyd by police nearly five years ago, and it is the second time the city has done this. This new federal consent decree follows a state-level settlement that is already in effect. Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio is here. Hey, Matt.
MATT SEPIC, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: So hi. This all follows an investigation by the Justice Department which found Minneapolis Police used excessive force and engaged in other abuses. What are the key reforms here in this federal consent decree?
SEPIC: The agreement formalizes many policies that the police department put in place when the world's attention was on Minneapolis in 2020. It bans choke holds and neck restraints and includes limitations on the use of chemical irritants such as pepper spray. The consent decree also requires officers to speak up anytime they see a colleague violating someone's rights no matter the ranks of those involved. This is already part of the oath that new officers take. Here is Chief Brian O'Hara swearing in a group of recruits last fall.
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BRIAN O'HARA: That you shall intervene and protest, both verbally and physically, if you witness anyone violating another's rights.
SEPIC: There are also restrictions and reporting requirements on the use of force, and another major change mandates that investigations of serious misconduct continue even after an officer quits or retires. At a news conference yesterday, the police chief pledged to exceed the agreement's expectations and earn the community's trust.
KELLY: Now, I mentioned the Minneapolis PD was already operating under state court oversight. So this new one, the federal consent decree - what does it add?
SEPIC: There is quite a bit of overlap, but Michelle Gross with Communities United Against Police Brutality says the federal consent decree goes further and, for example, gives the city's civilian oversight board some real power.
MICHELLE GROSS: If the Office of Police Conduct Review - the panel finds that discipline is appropriate, the chief actually has to give that discipline. There's no more option to ignore their recommendations.
SEPIC: Now, Gross also notes that the federal agreement prohibits police from assigning off-duty work to higher-ranking officers. That's something that gave Derek Chauvin power over his superiors. Chauvin's the former officer who's in prison for killing George Floyd.
KELLY: Sure. Now, the Minneapolis City Council have approved this but two weeks before President Donald Trump takes office - any chance he could rescind it?
SEPIC: Well, in his first term, Trump opposed consent decrees, calling them a, quote, "war on police." Back in 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions halted negotiations over federal court oversight of the Chicago Police Department, but that agreement hadn't been finalized at the time. The one here is - and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says only a judge can terminate it, not any future mayor or a future president.
KELLY: Or a future president. OK. The last question, and it is a timing one - when is this consent decree expected to actually kick into effect?
SEPIC: It'll become legally binding once a federal judge approves it, but there is no set date for that.
KELLY: All right. That is Matt Sepic, reporter with Minnesota Public Radio. Thanks so much.
SEPIC: You're welcome.
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