Plaintiffs dismiss suit challenging police staffing in Minneapolis

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After two years of litigation, plaintiffs who sued the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey over police staffing have dismissed their lawsuit. They are satisfied that the new budget for police shows a trend away from what they had characterized as “police defunding.” 

Eight plaintiffs, Northside Minneapolis residents who were victims of crime, had argued that crime increase in Minneapolis was a direct result of an understaffed police force.  

James Dickey, attorney for plaintiffs and assistant general counsel at Upper Midwest Law Center, maintained, “[O]ur clients have been facing, as they rightly put it, a hail of bullets ripping through their neighborhoods killing the most vulnerable.” 

On June 20, 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that Minneapolis must employ a fully staffed police force per the Minneapolis city charter or else show cause why it cannot. The police force had lost nearly 300 officers. 

Doug Seaton, president of the Upper Midwest Law Center, declared, “We are thrilled to have represented our great clients who have won this battle against police defunding in Minneapolis. At this point, after winning the legal victory and seeing the mayor’s commitment to restoring the Minneapolis police, we are encouraged about the future of Minneapolis’ safety.” 

Frey has proposed a budget that would increase the police staffing budget by $6.5 million in 2024 and the civilian support budget by $3.375 million. It also includes $8.6 million in overtime expenses, $1.5 million for partnerships with other jurisdictions, $750,000 in internships for Minneapolis high school students interested in becoming police officers, and $1.45 million investment in behavioral crisis response.  

“We encourage the City Council to provide even greater investment in Minneapolis’ safety than the Mayor has proposed in this budget,” Seaton added. 

Related:

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Police staffing order reversed 

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