Responses to Minnesota's police reforms range from lukewarm to 'slap in the face'

Jul 22, 20200

Anthony Souffle – Star Tribune count

Michelle Gross, founder of the nonprofit group Communities United Against Police Brutality, right, talked with civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, left, as they met with others for a news conference to denounce the reforms to the state's criminal justice system passed by the legislature Tuesday outside the Governor's Residence. The groups say the legislation is watered down and doesn't go far enough to address police accountability.

Minnesota's historic police reforms drew varied reactions Tuesday, from mild enthusiasm to disgust, with a common refrain: The state still has a long way to go.

A compromise product of a divided state Legislature, the package of policing changes was welcomed as a step in the right direction - but one that falls far short of the sort of transformational change demanded after the police killing of George Floyd.

Attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong called the final product "a slap in the face" to Black Minnesotans. And even one police group said the reforms didn't go far enough. Andy Skoogman, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, said he wanted to see deeper changes to the arbitration process that so often overturns decisions on police discipline.

https://www.startribune.com/reactions-to-police-reforms-go-from-lukewarm-to-slap-in-face/571853831/