POLICE

NPR  The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously yesterday to join an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to reform its police department. The deal is intended to address decades of discriminatory policing. The decision comes in the wake of George Floyd's murder nearly five years ago, which resulted in protests around the country and the world.  The Justice Department found a pattern of racial discrimination and excessive use of force in the Minneapolis Police Department, particularly against Black and Native people, says Estelle Timar-Wilcox of NPR network station Minnesota Public Radio. The department will draft a new use-of-force policy banning chokeholds and neck restraints and limiting the use of pepper spray. Investigations against officers will now continue even if they quit or retire. Advocates hope a federal judge signs off on the agreement before Trump takes office because his last administration opposed using consent decrees.