For many black people in Minneapolis, seeing police use force like the kind that killed George Floyd is disturbingly common.
Our analysis of the city's own figures shows why: City police use force against black people at 7 times the rate as white people. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Our analysis of the city's own figures shows why: City police use force against black people at 7 times the rate as white people. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Use of force includes kicks, neck holds, punches, shoves, takedowns, Mace, Tasers and other tactics.
Since 2015, Minneapolis police have documented using force about 11,500 times. For at least 6,650 of those acts — nearly 60% — the subject was black. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Since 2015, Minneapolis police have documented using force about 11,500 times. For at least 6,650 of those acts — nearly 60% — the subject was black. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Those thousands of instances of police use of force disproportionately affect black people in Minneapolis, who make up less than 20% of the population. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Pointing a gun at someone.
Pepper spray.
Neck restraints.
Since 2015, we found that when Minneapolis police use these kinds of force, about two-thirds of the time, the person subject to that force is black. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Pepper spray.
Neck restraints.
Since 2015, we found that when Minneapolis police use these kinds of force, about two-thirds of the time, the person subject to that force is black. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
There have been more than 2,600 civilian complaints against Minneapolis police officers since 2012. In only a dozen cases were they disciplined, according to Communities United Against Police Brutality, a local group.
The worst punishment was 40 hours of unpaid suspension.
The worst punishment was 40 hours of unpaid suspension.
The Minneapolis data also shows that most use of force happens in areas where more black people live.
But while crime rates are higher there, black people are also subject to police force more often than white people in some mostly white neighborhoods. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
But while crime rates are higher there, black people are also subject to police force more often than white people in some mostly white neighborhoods. nyti.ms/3dtccUs
Fears that the Minneapolis police may have an uncontrollable problem appeared to prod state officials into action Tuesday. The state launched an investigation into whether the department “engaged in systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color” over the past decade.
Minneapolis is "a living laboratory on everything you shouldn’t do when it comes to police use of force," said David Schultz, a professor in St. Paul who's studied local police tactics for decades. "We have a pattern that goes back at least a generation." nyti.ms/3dtccUs
