dustinhaning

In 2015, the city of Minneapolis became one of 6 pilot cities to implement a new national initiative to research, develop, and implement practices to mitigate racial bias and injustice in the police and legal system. More information here . Since then, the Minneapolis police department has trained all 874 of their officers in the procedural justice theory developed by this initiative, as well as training on implicit bias. This is an ongoing initiative through the city, so results are still unknown, but if successful, Minneapolis could prove to be a model for how police departments across the country tackle the issue of race and police enforcement. Police brutality on African-Americans is a real problem, backed up by a lot of data .

On July 15, 2017, Justine Ruszczyk, also known as Justine Damond, was shot and killed by Minneapolis police officer, Mohamed Noor . This was an especially contentious story of police brutality since it involved a black officer killing a white woman. After a 3 week trial, Noor was found guilty third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.  Evan Frost | MPR News The verdict raised a lot of uncomfortable questions . While there wasn't much doubt that Noor was guilty, would he have actually been found guilty in court if he were white? What if the victim was a black man? Noor's conviction was the first time a police officer had been charged with murder while on duty in the history of Minnesota, and such convictions are extremely rare in the US. Meanwhile, dozens of high profile instances of police killing black men end with the officer going free. It's hard not to believe there is a double standard.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are often looked at in a positive light for its abundance of arts, parks, museums, restaurants, etc. but you probably hear a lot about the great people as well. How true is this? And is it true for everyone? "Minnesota Nice" gets thrown around a lot, but for many, this is a luxury reserved for white people. One area where you are likely to see a glaring difference in opinion between white people and non-whites is in police relations. Distrust and fear of police is a problem that has plagued the entire country, but there are some unique issues faced in Minnesota. A big part of the fear for African Americans is likely related to the systemic bias and racism that exists within the entire criminal justice system. From the courts, to the lawyers, to the laws on the books, the deck always seems stacked against African Americans. This has been an ongoing problem in Minnesota, and one that still has not been fully addressed . For most people, the police a...