Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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The Minneapolis Police Department has spent a lot of time in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

operating under a court-ordered agreement

 with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after investigators in 2022 

found a pattern of racism in Minneapolis policing

 that violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

In late December, MPD and the U.S. Justice Department reached an agreement on 

 that would mandate additional changes. It still needs the approval of a federal judge, who has not set a timeline for considering it.

Going forward, how can Minneapolis build trust between police and community members?

MPR News host Angela Davis presents an audio documentary about her experiences traveling to Montgomery, Ala., with a group of Minneapolis police officers and Black community members working to bridge the divide.

They’re part of an ambitious effort called the 

police killing of Philando Castile in a Twin Cities suburb

, the group started meeting regularly to talk about repairing and building relationships between police and the people they serve.

On the Alabama trip, they toured museums and historical sites telling the story of slavery, racial segregation and mass incarceration in America. Then they sat down in small groups and talked about what they’d seen and heard.

The goal was to connect the past to the present, create a better understanding of the distrust that exists today and learn how to talk about it. They invited Angela and producer Stephen Smith to tag along, observe and record their intimate discussions.

Listen to Angela’s Alabama scrapbook and check out her 

 online that’s filled with insights and photos from the trip.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on:

Use the audio player above to listen to the full audio documentary.

Host

MPR News host Angela Davis presents an audio documentary about her experiences traveling to Montgomery, Ala., with a group of Minneapolis police officers and Black community members seeking to build trust.

MPR News withWednesday on this program, we aired an audio documentary about a group of Minneapolis police officers and community members, who recently took a trip to Montgomery, Alabama to tour museums and historical sites. MPR News host Angela Davis was invited to go along with them and record their discussions about what they saw and learned. We are continuing a conversation about the Minneapolis Police Department and an ambitious effort led by the Police and Black Men Project.

Minneapolis police, Black men find common ground in Alabama’s past

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