Today, the Center for Policing Equity released the following statement on the resignation of Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau:
“Having partnered with the Minneapolis Police Department for several years, we are hopeful that Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges’ request for the resignation of Police Chief Janee Harteau is accompanied by a deepening commitment to the reforms already begun in the department. This course correction should include an acceleration of some of the changes that were already in place: improvement in data collection; training on implicit bias; and analytics that target solutions for racial disparities in policing.
Unexpected changes are inevitable in the pursuit of reform. Minneapolis is one of the cities in the National Initiative to Build Community Trust and Justice, and as a result, one of the cities in our National Justice Database. It was the face of police reform in Minnesota, and announcements like this often have the unintended consequence of slowing progress.
We hope this development does not become a setback for the values of equality, justice, and science-based reform that Minneapolis has moved to embrace.”