City council members to take part in next consent decree meeting for Minneapolis PD

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota's Human Rights Commissioner wants the City of Minneapolis back at the table over alleged human rights violations at the Minneapolis Police Department.

Minneapolis officials skipped the first two meetings, delaying talks about a court-ordered consent decree. At a city council meeting on Tuesday, members implied they'd been shut out of the process by the city's lawyers.

They say they will attend the next meeting on June 21.

"We believe we need to move urgently to meaningfully address the serious problem of race-based policing that’s undermining public safety in Minneapolis," said Minnesota Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero. I’d like to see us move forward meaningfully this summer and into the fall here."

The state's Human Rights commissioner said she didn't know when a separate investigation, being carried out by the U.S. Department of Justice, will be over. that could force the city into a second consent decree.

The mayor said this week that having two monitors would slow the pace of change.