Internal Affairs Audit

One of the recommendations of the Civilian Review Authority Work Group I helped form and lead last year was that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) conduct an external audit of the City's other organization charged with holding police officers accountable: the Internal Affairs Unit.

Earlier this year, the MPD came to Council with a proposal to give a no-bid contract to the Everett Law Firm from Buffalo, MN. The reasoning at that time was that Everett had a good working relationship with the MPD from past collaborations and Everett understands the Minnesota

Driven by objections that I raised, along with Council Members Glidden, Hodges, Schiff, and Remington, the Council rejected that proposal. We frown on no-bid contracts, and the closeness of the two organizations called into question the extent to which Everett could conduct a meaningful external audit of the IAU. The Council directed the MPD to put out a Request for Proposals and go through the formal process.

Today, the MPD received approval from the Council to enter into a contract with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a group based out of Washington, DC with a national and even international reputation in police policy work. Note that this is a different contractor than MPD was poised to hire in April.

I consider this a very positive development, given PERF’s national stature and track record and clear independence from MPD. I am hopeful that this audit will help us improve police practices in the future.