Alliance Alert: Over the last week, The US Department of Justice has made two pivotal announcements around civil rights violations and discrimination against people with behavioral health disabilities in Oklahoma and Minnesota. On Friday January 3rd, the DOJ released findings from their investigation of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Police Department outlining how the three discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities by unnecessarily institutionalizing people and only sending police to mental health and substance use emergency calls. The DOJ concluded these discriminatory practices amount to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
We are happy to see the state of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, and the Oklahoma City Police Department have already begun taking steps to remedy these violations by updating the state’s Olmstead plan, beginning to develop and provide behavioral health responses to 911 calls which reduce police involvement, and initiating improvements to their mental health systems.
Similar to the findings in Oklahoma City, last year the DOJ found the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department violated the ADA with their racially discriminatory practices in policing, behavioral health responses, and interactions with youth. Yesterday, the City of Minneapolis and the DOJ announced a court enforceable consent decree that requires the City to create and “maintain an emergency response system that respects the rights of people with behavioral health disabilities,” practice de-escalation techniques to reduce the use of force, and respect the first amendment rights of all people.
The findings in Oklahoma and the consent decree in Minneapolis are part of the department’s work to improve rights protection for people with disabilities and ensure we receive the needed community support to prevent harmful institutionalization. Other states, like New York, must take proactive approaches to ensure compliance with the ADA and Olmstead vs Lois Curtis (LC) decision which mandates that people with disabilities must live, work, and learn in the least restrictive environment. New York and others must create update its State Olmstead Plan and establish Mental Health first responder teams to offer people the appropriate community services to prevent institutionalization and emergency response to eliminate unnecessary and often harmful law enforcement interactions. See below for more information.
The United States Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 6, 2025
Justice Department Reaches Agreement with the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department to Reform City’s and Police Department’s Unconstitutional and Unlawful Practices
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a court enforceable agreement with the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) to resolve the Department’s findings that the city and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments of the Constitution as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal anti-discrimination laws.
The consent decree, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and subject to court approval, sets forth the roadmap to reform within the city and MPD. The decree’s requirements focus on preventing excessive force; stopping racially discriminatory policing; improving officers’ interactions with youth; protecting the public’s First Amendment rights; preventing discrimination against people with behavioral health disabilities; promoting well-being of officers and employees; and enhancing officers’ supervision and accountability. The decree calls for the appointment of the Effective Law Enforcement For All team as an independent monitor to assess whether the requirements of the decree are being implemented. The independent monitor will report publicly on the city’s implementation efforts on a regular basis.
“This agreement places the City of the Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department on a path toward achieving the significant reforms, lawful policing, and appropriate emergency response services that the residents of Minneapolis deserve,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As I said last summer when I announced the findings of this investigation — George Floyd should be alive today. This agreement is an important step toward ensuring that meaningful, durable reform is achieved in Minneapolis.”
“The people of Minneapolis deserve constitutional policing, bias-free public safety efforts, and effective emergency response services,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The consent decree we unveil today marks a new chapter for Minneapolis, a city still healing following the tragic death of George Floyd. Through this consent decree, the City and the Minneapolis Police Department have committed to instituting reforms that will make Minneapolis a model law enforcement agency that respects everyone’s civil and constitutional rights. We look forward to working collaboratively with city officials, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the people of Minneapolis to usher in a new era of change and transformation.”
“This agreement calls for focused, measurable, and detailed reforms that reflect input from the community and a shared goal of positive transformation to benefit the City, the police, and the citizens of Minneapolis,” said Civil Chief and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Voss for the District of Minnesota.
Under the consent decree, the City of Minneapolis and MPD will implement comprehensive reforms to:
- · Use de-escalation to minimize the need to use force and increase the likelihood of voluntary compliance; resolve incidents without force where possible; use force proportional to the threat; and adopt use of force policies, training, and review systems that provide sufficient guidance and develop necessary skills;
- · Enforce the law fairly and impartially, providing equal protection of the law for all people in Minneapolis and barring racial discrimination in enforcement;
- · Respect the First Amendment rights of all persons;
- · Maintain an emergency response system that respects the rights of people with behavioral health disabilities;
- · Investigate allegations of employee misconduct fully, fairly, and efficiently; predicate investigative findings on the appropriate standard of proof and document them in writing, and hold officers who commit misconduct accountable pursuant to a disciplinary system that is fair, consistent, and provides due process;
- · Approach youth in a manner that is developmentally appropriate, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed; and
- · Provide confidential mental health wellness services to all MPD officers and other groups of public safety personnel.
The Justice Department announced its findings in June 2023, following a thorough investigation into the City of Minneapolis and MPD. The Department found that it had reasonable cause to believe that MPD: uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers; unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities; violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech; and — together with the city — discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities when responding to calls for assistance. The Department concluded that persistent deficiencies in policy, training, supervision, and accountability contribute to the unlawful conduct.
The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota conducted the investigation, with the assistance of law enforcement professionals, pursuant to the pattern or practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Since January 2021, the Special Litigation Section has opened 12 investigations into law enforcement agencies. The section is enforcing 15 agreements with law enforcement agencies and two post-judgment orders. Additionally, on Dec. 12, 2024, the Department and Louisville, Kentucky, Metro Government filed a joint motion in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to enter a consent decree intended to resolve the Justice Department’s findings that Louisville Metro and the Louisville Metro Police Department engage in a pattern or practice of violations of the Constitution and federal law. That motion remains pending court approval.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Additional information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota is available at www.justice.gov/usao-mn.
Information specific to the Civil Rights Division’s police reform work can be found at www.justice.gov/crt/conduct-law-enforcement-agencies.
The Justice Department will hold a virtual community meeting at 7:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Members of the public are encouraged to attend to learn more about the consent decree.
View the consent decree fact sheet here.
United Stated Department of Justice
For Immediate Release Friday, January 3, 2025
Justice Department Finds State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Police Department Discriminate Against People with Behavioral Health Disabilities
The Justice Department announced today that it has reasonable cause to believe that the State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD) discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities. Specifically, the department finds that:
- Oklahoma unnecessarily institutionalizes, or puts at serious risk of unnecessary institutionalization, adults with behavioral health disabilities in the Oklahoma County area, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);
- Oklahoma City and OKCPD engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities when providing emergency response services, in violation of Title II of the ADA and the pattern or practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
“People with behavioral health disabilities in the Oklahoma County area are not receiving the support they need,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Instead of accessing treatment in the community, they are institutionalized repeatedly. Further, when they call 911 for a behavioral health emergency, they get a response by armed police, even when there is no public safety issue identified. As a result, urgent mental health needs often go unaddressed and crisis situations are needlessly escalated, sometimes leading to avoidable use of force. We recognize that the state and the city are taking preliminary steps to improve access for and treatment of people with behavioral health disabilities. The Justice Department is committed to working collaboratively with Oklahoma and Oklahoma City so that they implement the right services and supports their communities need and institute a lasting remedial plan.”
The department’s investigation of the State of Oklahoma found that thousands of people with behavioral health disabilities are admitted to psychiatric hospitals in the Oklahoma County area each year, and many have long or repeated stays. Many also have long-term stays in nursing or residential care facilities. Most would prefer to live in their communities, surrounded by friends and family, and to have the freedom to make their own choices about their lives. These individuals could live successfully in their communities if they received critical community-based services that are proven to help people with behavioral health disabilities avoid unnecessary admissions or unnecessarily lengthy stays in segregated institutional settings. But Oklahoma does not provide sufficient services to prevent unnecessary institutionalization. As a result, many people with behavioral health disabilities never receive treatment until they are in crisis, when they instead end up needlessly hospitalized or in contact with law enforcement. For many in the Oklahoma County area, OKCPD is the law enforcement agency they encounter.
The investigation also concluded that when a person calls 911 seeking assistance with a behavioral health issue, the city sends police as the sole responders in most cases. In many cases these calls for assistance could be more effectively resolved by a response by behavioral health professionals who can provide appropriate treatment, but the city rarely involves such professionals. Instead, armed OKCPD officers respond to situations involving behavioral health needs, often failing to help, escalating crises or even unnecessarily using force.
During the department’s investigation, both the state and city initiated improvements to their systems. The state continued to expand its crisis system and released an updated Olmstead plan, and the city announced plans to develop and provide a behavioral health response to 911 calls, and began to make improvements within OKCPD that will help address these violations.
The department will be conducting outreach to members of the Oklahoma community for input on remedies to address the department’s findings. People may also submit recommendations by calling (888) 473-3460 or emailing MentalHealth.Oklahoma@usdoj.gov.
The department has opened 12 pattern and practice investigations into law enforcement agencies since 2021 pursuant to 34 U.S.C. 12601, and has been actively monitoring over a dozen agreements with law enforcement agencies that were secured prior to that period. Since 2021, the department has successfully concluded agreements and portions of consent decrees with the Yonkers, New York, Police Department; the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Police Department; the Suffolk County, New York, Police Department; the Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau; and the Seattle Police Department. The department has issued findings reports concerning several agencies including: Louisville, Kentucky, Metro Police Department; the Minneapolis Police Department; the Phoenix Police Department; the Lexington, Mississippi, Police Department; the Trenton, New Jersey, Police Department; the Memphis, Tennessee, Police Department; the Worcester, Massachusetts, Police Department; and the Mt. Vernon, New York, Police Department. Investigations are ongoing regarding the Louisiana State Police; the New York City Police Department’s Special Victims Division; and the Rankin County, Mississippi, Sheriff’s Department. The department also reached a court enforceable agreement with Louisville to resolve its findings.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt.