- An investigation found that one in four times a Minneapolis cop used force, evidence contradicted the officer's story.
- The findings come in a review of 300 use of force files from 2010 to 2020, according to a new probe.
- According to the probe, supervisors are not "adequately" reviewing officers' use of force reports.
Nearly one in four times a Minneapolis Police Department officer uses force, the evidence contradicts the cop's story, data in a new investigation from Minnesota's Department of Human Rights found.
In a review of 300 MPD use-of-force files that stretched from 2010 to 2020, nearly 24% of the cases contained evidence that directly disputed an officer's story, the civil rights probe released on Wednesday said.
"The data therefore suggests that supervisors are not adequately reviewing and assessing inaccuracies or false statements made by officers in their use of force reports," the agency's report said. "By not providing proper supervisory training, MPD leaves its supervisors without the skills and tools they need to support their staff or hold them accountable."
The report cited one specific incident from 2017, in which an MPD supervisor approved an officer's use of force on an unarmed 14-year-old Black teenager.
According to the probe, the officer entered a teen's bedroom and told him to stand up. When the teen didn't do so immediately, the officer hit him in the head with a flashlight.
"By deeming this officer's use of force appropriate, the supervisor effectively authorized the officer to continue using such egregious force in the future," the probe said.
Minnesota's Department of Human Rights launched its probe into Minneapolis and the city's police department days after former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in 2020.
The probe contains data from police stops and searches, arrests, policies, trainings, and procedures — all stretching back to 2010.