Shielded From Justice -MN Police Brutality Racism Virulent Corruption

	Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Non- Accountability in the United States
	Minneapolis: Race
CONTENTS OVERVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS DOWNLOAD WHAT YOU CAN DO ORDER THIS REPORT HRW HOME ATLANTA BOSTON CHICAGO DETROIT INDIANAPOLIS LOS ANGELES MINNEAPOLIS NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA PORTLAND PROVIDENCE SAN FRANCISCO WASH., D.C.	This is Google's cache of http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/cases/katrina/Human%20Rights%20Watch/uspohtml/uspo84.htm. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 31 Jan 2009 02:09:22 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime. Learn more Text-only version These search terms are highlighted: shielded justice minneapolis Fifty-four percent of complaints to the CRA in 1994, 58 percent in 1995, and 61 percent in 1996 were made by people of color, although they constitute just one-quarter of the city's population.6 A representative of the Minneapolis Urban League, which receives complaints primarily from the African-American community, told Human Rights Watch that his office receives approximately fifty complaints a month alleging police misconduct.7 As cited in a 1994 study about drug enforcement in minority communities in Minneapolis, the Urban League said: The issue is essentially that the black African-American citizen continues to be deprived of the same civil liberties as those offered to the white Anglo suburbanite. The black citizen is caught in an unenviable dilemma. They must depend on the police to provide basic services, yet do not trust the police to provide the service fairly and equitably. There is a basic distrust for the police and the black African-American feels that any time the police will turn on them and they will be the one incarcerated. If we are to make any progress, this basic distrust must be overcome.8 This distrust, on both sides, came to the fore when Minneapolis Police Officer Jerry Haaf was shot and killed on September 25, 1992, and the suspects were African-American.9 One of the suspects in the shooting alleged brutality by the Hennepin County sheriff's deputies detaining him.10 And after the shooting, the racial climate remained tense. Several African-American young men alleged police brutality in unrelated cases. In one, Larry Dent said he was beaten badly and was called "nigger" by several white officers in front of onlookers;11 Dent suffered several injuries to his jaw, eyes, and mouth, and lost two teeth.12 When asked about excessive force problems, then-Chief Laux acknowledged there were occasional problems but that "you got to factor in [Officer] Jerry Haaf's murder, you got to factor in the frequency [sic] officers take away guns and the senseless murders that are happening."13 6 1994, 1995 and 1996 Annual Reports issued by the Minneapolis Civilian Police Review Authority. 7 Interview with Roger Banks, Urban League, August 30, 1995. 8 PERF study, p. 5. 9 Suzanne P. Kelly, "Shooting further polarizes race relations," Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 29, 1992. 10 Neal Gendler, "Haaf killing suspect accuses deputies," Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 28, 1993. 11 Patricia Lopez Baden, "Black motorist alleges police beating," Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 25, 1992. 12 Ibid. 13 Tatsha Robertson, " Officers say citizens don't realize law allows some use of force," Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 24, 1993.
© June 1998 Human Rights Watch