At the recent Open Streets event on Central Avenue, City Council President Elliott Payne and Third Ward Council Member Michael Rainville answered questions regarding the state of the police reform process in Minneapolis. Payne represents Northeast’s First Ward.
Each was asked to comment on the relevance of the loss of federal oversight, on the degree of buy-in from the rank-and-file police officers and on reform process timelines.
MPD and the DOJ
On May 21, 2025, after the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it was moving forward with plans to abandon a consent decree agreement that had been struck between the DOJ and the city of Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey and Chief of Police Brian O’Hara were quick to hold a press conference. The DOJ simultaneously announced its intent to dismiss a similar case in Louisville, Kentucky.
The consent decree agreement, in short, was a structure intended to oversee police reforms and, per the Minnesota state website, “address race-based policing.” To learn more about the consent decree, visit https://mn.gov/mdhr/mpd/agreement/.
At this press conference, Frey and O’Hara announced that, despite the change to federal oversight in the ongoing police reform process in Minneapolis, they intended to continue to act as though the decree were still in place.
Frey said the city and its police department would “comply with every sentence” of the abandoned federal consent decree. Chief O’Hara added that they would go “beyond what is required in … any court-ordered reform,” and that his force would “be the best police department in the nation.”
The reform process was guided by two additional parties and rubrics: first, a reform agreement similar to the consent decree via the Minneapolis Department of Human Rights. Second, an independent evaluator, Effective Law Enforcement for All (ELEFA) was hired to monitor the MPD’s compliance with the reform guidelines.
Department of Justice’s departure
President Payne and Councilmember Rainville differ on how relevant the Trump administration’s withdrawal was to the city.
Payne said, “The (city) administration’s going to continue pursuing the provisions of the consent decree (but) the consent decree isn’t just a set of recommendations. The consent decree is an accountability framework that has the power of the federal court as an independent oversight body.” He added, “You can put a policy on paper. You can train the policy. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the policy is being actually executed according to the training and the documented policy in the real world.”
Rainville took a different stance. Noting that both Mayor Frey and Chief O’Hara intend to stay the course on reforms, he said, “We don’t need the federal government to tell us how to run our police department; we know what to do. All those terms that were agreed to, we’re gonna stick with them.”
Rank and file acceptance
Payne and Rainville had some overlapping opinions regarding officers’ attitudes towards the reform measures. Both councilmembers perceived differences between how newer officers and the “tenured” rank and file were handling the changes.
Acknowledging that ELEFA noted a distinction between the groups in its most recent progress report, Rainville said: “That happens in any industry. The older people … are resistant to change, and the younger people want change.” He expressed optimism for the future, noting that new hires “know exactly the reforms we want (and) the policies we want.”
Payne, after describing his experience watching new cadets at use of force training, said “It’s very clear that our senior leadership is on board. It’s very clear that our … newest members of the police force are on board. It’s not as clear on that rank and file that’s been around for a long time.”
Reform timelines
Differences of opinion between the council members emerged again on the final question of the completion of the reform process. Rainville said “We’re on a very smooth path … the fact that we won’t have to be second-guessed by the federal government will make us improve even faster.”
The future seemed less certain to Payne. “The timeline is driven by the commitment of the police department.” Chief O’Hara “can only move as fast as his most reticent officer,” he said. “We need to have a constant feedback loop”: one that lets officers know when they’ve done something contrary to policy, but also “on when they are doing a good job.”