By Andy Mannix Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police officers will no longer be permitted to participate in “warrior”-style training, even on their own time.
Mayor Jacob Frey announced he will ban this popular training style at his State of the City address Thursday, saying he believes this will make Minneapolis the first city in the country to do so, according to a prepared version of his remarks.
Warrior training, which teaches officers to perceive threats all around them, came under scrutiny in the Twin Cities after revelations that Jeronimo Yanez — the former St. Anthony officer who shot and killed Philando Castile during a routine traffic stop in 2016 — had taken classes on it. Nationally, critics say this school of policing creates a higher likelihood for an unecessary use-of-force encounter with the public.
“Chief Medaria Arradondo’s MPD rests on trust, accountability and professional service,” Frey said in his address, to be delivered at Bio-Techne in northeast Minneapolis. “Whereas fear-based, warrior-style trainings like killology are in direct conflict with everything that our chief and I stand for in our police department. Fear-based trainings violate the values at the very heart of community policing. When you’re conditioned to believe that every person encountered poses a threat to your existence, you simply cannot be expected to build meaningful relationships with those same people.”
Frey said the new policy will go into effect today.
The mayor’s speech also touched on progress the city has made on priorities he laid out for his first year in office, including affordable housing and income inequality.
Last summer, Frey announced he would invest $40 million in affordable housing in his first budget. Frey also supported the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which allows for up to triplexes in all neighborhoods and 3-to-6 story buildings along some transit corridors.
Today, Frey said, “affordable housing funding from the city is three times higher than it has ever been.”
©2019 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis)