St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - Governor Tim Walz has announced the Minneapolis Police Department is the target of a sweeping human rights investigation.

At a news conference this afternoon, the governor says he has directed the State Human Rights Department to conduct a thorough investigation after filing a formal discrimination complaint against the state’s largest police department. Walz says the goal is to achieve structural changes to fix systemic problems in the department. He also stressed the effort is one of many steps to come "to restore trust with communities that have been unseen and unheard for far too long."

Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan says the investigation will look into the department’s policies and procedures over the past 10-years, alleging the agency is home to a culture of discrimination that fails to hold officers accountable for bad behavior. She called the investigation “one tangible step forward” in addressing the system of racism that has always existed in Minnesota.

The first of its kind investigation for the State of Minnesota followed the death of George Floyd last Monday that led to protests and then erupted into several nights of rioting and looting in the Twin Cities.

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