Rachel Moran, professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, recently spoke with KSTP-TV about a new report from the Department of Justice stating that the Minneapolis Police Department is “fundamentally flawed” and “failed to find, address, and prevent officer misconduct.”
From the story:
Rachel Moran, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas who has studied the discipline system at police departments in Minneapolis and around the country, said the DOJ’s findings were not surprising.
“I hope it’s perceived as validating to the people who have been raising their voices about these issues for years,” she said. “I hope those people get some sense of, yes, someone has listened and agreed with our concerns.”
The DOJ’s report blames the lack of accountability on a “needlessly complex” discipline system that wrongfully dismisses complaints and on a department that does not adequately supervise its officers.
According to the report, MPD’s entire system allowed “problematic officers to continue committing misconduct for years.”
“When I read the report, and I read the examples they provide, it speaks of an oversight system that doesn’t expect people to look into it,” Moran said. “There are just obvious errors, there’s failure to investigate claims that actually had evidence to support them.”
