As noted above, organizational culture is created and demonstrated through consistent behavior. MPD maintains an organizational culture where officers consistently use racist, misogynistic, and otherwise disrespectful language. Furthermore, MPD does not uniformly and consistently hold officers accountable for using this language.
According to body worn camera footage, discipline records, statements from community members, and interviews with MPD officers, some MPD officers and supervisors use racial slurs. They call Black individuals “niggers” and “monkeys” and call Black women “Black bitches.” One MPD supervisor referred to Somali men as “orangutans.” Similarly, community members reported examples of MPD officers calling Latino individuals “beaners.” MPD officers reported that their colleagues called fellow Black MPD officers “nappy head” and “cattle.”
According to body worn camera footage and interviews with MPD officers and City leaders, some MPD officers and supervisors also use misogynistic language and rely on misogynistic stereotypes. This includes MPD officers calling community members, who are women, “fucking cunt,” “bitch,” and “cussy,” a derogatory term that combines the words “cunt” and “pussy.”
When investigating a sexual assault case, one MPD officer falsely stated that a man could not be guilty of sexually assaulting a woman if they had children together. MPD officers also described a dispatcher as a “bitch.” Additionally, in reference to how a City leader handled a high-profile police event, an MPD supervisor told that City leader that they “hope [the leader] gets fucked in the ass.”
Officers who are the subject of these racist or sexist comments hesitate to, and often simply do not, report the problematic officers because they do not believe in the efficacy of the City’s and MPD’s accountability systems and fear retaliation if they report the harassing behavior. As described below, the lack of confidence in MPD’s accountability systems is echoed by community members as well. Review of disciplinary records demonstrates that between January 2010 and April 2021, MPD rarely disciplined officers for using racist, misogynistic, or inappropriate language.
Hennepin County prosecutors also reported that MPD officers are much less professional and respectful than officers from other police departments in Hennepin County. Since as early as 1993, MPD has had a policy requiring its officers to use professional language and conduct with community members. However, City and County prosecutors noted that it can be difficult to rely on MPD officers’ body worn camera video in court because of how disrespectful and offensive MPD officers are to criminal suspects, witnesses, and bystanders. When MPD officers scream obscenities at community members, it makes it challenging for prosecutors to do their job and therefore undermines the criminal justice system.
