March 3, 2016 (MINNEAPOLIS)—Today, the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Mayor Betsy Hodges and Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau announced that the COPS office will perform a comprehensive assessment of the City of Minneapolis’ response to the 18-day occupation of the 4th precinct building.
“I, along with Chief Harteau, asked for this independent review of the city’s response to last fall’s occupation of the Fourth Precinct station,” said Mayor Hodges. “I am pleased that the COPS Office has agreed to conduct this assessment, and especially that it will include the kind of community input we asked for. I am proud that the occupation ended as peacefully as possible, and we need to know where we could have done better. This assessment will have value not only for Minneapolis, but for cities around the country.”
“It is important to note that we requested this after-action assessment, and it is not unusual for us to evaluate and reevaluate our response to a multitude of incidents,” Chief Harteau said. “The protests presented the City with a unique and complex situation, and I feel it is important for an independent look at what transpired. This gives us a tremendous opportunity to study the event and its impacts through a variety of viewpoints; evaluating experiences through the eyes of community members, protesters, officers, and residents who live near the 4th Precinct.”
Mayor Hodges and Chief Harteau issued a formal request for this comprehensive assessment on February 2nd, 2016. The goal of the assessment is to identify significant findings about critical decisions and practices in order to help develop recommendations that Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Police Department, and cities and law-enforcement agencies nationwide can use to help build trust, improve relationships, and protect civil rights in the communities they serve.