The City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights have tagged Effective Law Enforcement for ALL (ELEFA) as the new sheriff in town to monitor the Minneapolis Police Department's compliance with a settlement agreement mandating reforms. The tailor-made pact, requiring policy, budgetary, and training overhauls, gets an extra set of eyes to ensure the local law enforcement shapes up and ships out any misconduct.
In a city still shadowed by the high-profile incidents that have stained the fabric of community trust in recent years, the selection of ELEFA as the Independent Evaluator comes as part of a greater strategy to sweep clean the streets of injustice. Having edged out competitors in a public grilling session in mid-January, the nonprofit notched the highest brace of community and stakeholder support, as per the City’s announcement.
The nitty-gritty of ELEFA’s assignment involves assessing the City’s alignment with the settlement terms and offering a helping hand in drafting policies and honing in on effective training material. Not a one-trick pony, ELEFA boasts a track record of similar stints in cities like New Orleans and Baltimore, signaling their task force is no stranger to the complexities of big-city policing woes.
According to a statement obtained by the City of Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey hailed the move as a due stop on the ‘roadmap for change,’ stressing the need for a joined-hand approach across government for transparency and accountability. "The selection of an Independent Evaluator, we’re continuing to advance the years-long work to build a more just approach to safety in our city," Frey said.
City Council President Elliott Payne echoed the sentiment for holistic reform, pinpointing the evaluator's role in a landscape ripe for transformation. "However, the most impactful step we can take is a collective commitment to accountability across all aspects of City government," Payne told the City of Minneapolis in a recent interview.
The Minneapolis Police Department's new top cop, Police Chief Brian O'Hara, didn't shy away from acknowledging the uphill challenge, but expressed optimism in making reform more than just a court-ordered checklist. "We will rebuild the Minneapolis Police Department to be the finest police service in America," O'Hara averred in his battle cry for change.
Now, with the City Council poised to roll out the red carpet by voting on a contract, ELEFA stands by, ready to clock in by early March. Their first order of business will be cooking up an action plan within the following 90 days, spiced with community input and a healthy serving of data analysis, setting the stage for an earnest dive into the City’s adherence to a blueprint for a fairer, reimagined police service.
