In a first-ever in Minnesota history, the state Human Rights Department has launched an investigation of the entire Minneapolis Police Department, prompted by the police killing of George Floyd. Governor Tim Walz contends the state’s pain “will not go away with tough talk and more people on the streets in uniform. It will go away with the sense of community you see being displayed upon the State Capitol lawn today, with law enforcement and the people that they serve seeing themselves as neighbor[s] in the same society and the same opportunities for their children.”
The governor says the investigation going back 10 years will determine if M-P-D has engaged in systemic discrimination toward people of color and ensure such practices are stopped. Walz notes Minnesota has one of the strongest civil rights laws in the country.