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Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday that the Justice Department is launching a “pattern or practice” investigation into the Minneapolis police department.
“Today, I am announcing that the Justice Department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
The investigation comes a day after Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for murdering George Floyd.
“Yesterday’s verdict in the state criminal trial does not address potentially systemic policing issues in Minneapolis,” Garland said.
The Justice Department will assess whether the department has a pattern of using excessive force in arrests or at protests, whether the department’s officer’s engage in discriminatory conduct and whether its treatment of people with behavioral disabilities violates the law, Garland said.
“If the Justice Department concludes that there’s reasonable cause to believe there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing, we will issue a public report of our conclusions,” he said.
Merrick Garland: "I have been involved in the legal system in one way or another for most of my adult life. I know that justice is sometimes slow, sometimes elusive and sometimes never comes. The Department of Justice will be unwavering in its pursuit of equal justice under law." pic.twitter.com/vPlrC4GRFQ
— ABC News (@ABC) April 21, 2021
