Civil Rights Groups Urge Minneapolis Leaders to Keep Communities Safe

Justice Reform News, Policing Resources 05.28,20

​​​​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rafael Medina, [email protected], 202.869.0390

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and leading civil rights groups today called on the mayor of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department chief to keep communities safe and restore trust between police and the communities they serve. The letter was sparked by the recent police killing of George Floyd and subsequent militarized response to local demonstrations, with the groups urging leaders to use this moment as an opportunity to grapple with the ongoing legacy of white supremacy and police violence in communities of color and to re-examine their approach to public safety.

“We do not purport to represent the views of countless local communities who have unique relationships with local law enforcement or to supplant the need for direct engagement and dialogue with community members. Instead, we offer a perspective based on our collective 450-year history of activism and advocacy. It is through our collective experience that we can attest to the fact that these types of events deepen distrust in law enforcement, reopen old wounds, and inflict new ones. They remind us of our historically fraught relationship with a profession that is sworn to serve and protect the public. They remind us of violence against activists during the civil rights movement, of the enforcement of segregation and Jim Crow laws during the 19th and 20th centuries, and of fugitive slave laws in centuries past,” the groups wrote.

 The groups also offered best practices that provide a roadmap for reform and guidance for responding to demonstrations, including:

  • Refrain from using military equipment for crowd control and require officers to interact with assemblers in a respectful and positive manner
  • Promote crowd control tactics, including de-escalation, that are less likely to cause injury and set clear limits on the use of force
  • Prohibit the use of tear gas for crowd control
  • Engage with community leaders to create dialogue before and during assemblies
  • Protect and respect constitutional rights
  • Ensure officers are accountable and identifiable during protests

The letter was signed by the following organizations and is available here:

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
NAACP
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
National Urban League
National Action Network

The Leadership Conference has also called on the U.S. Department of Justice to launch a civil rights investigation into the murder of Floyd and for local authorities to hold the officers criminally accountable.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.