Report: Minneapolis police rarely justify stop-and-frisks

A review of recent stop-and-frisk encounters between Minneapolis police and citizens found that officers rarely gave reasons for stopping and searching people without arresting them, according to a new report by the Police Conduct Oversight Commission.

The study, whose findings will be presented at the PCOC’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, comes amid growing criticism of the practice, in which officers stop people they reasonably believe are committing or about to commit a crime. Critics say the practice disproportionately targets ethnic minorities.

The PCOC, which investigates misconduct complaints against police, found that officers “did not document any information about the stop other than what was automatically generated or required to close the call” in 26 percent of stop-and-frisk encounters (otherwise known as Terry stops), and that even those stops and searches where they provided some details “often what was documented was not the reason for the stop or a description of the outcome.”

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