By Aaron Miller-
A US federal investigation has been launched into policing practices in the city of Minneapolis, a day after one of its former officers was convicted of the murder of George Floyd.
The investigation will involve the justice department examining whether there has been a pattern “of unconstitutional or unlawful policing”, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
President Joe Biden has committed to taking an active role in combating systemic racism in America by establishing comprehensive legislative policies at a federal level in memory of George Floyd.
Former U.S President Donald Trump was criticised for his lukewarm response to George Floyd’s death, rejecting calls for comprehensive police reform. Although Trump signed an executive order asking police departments to improve officers’ training and create a database to track misconduct, he was largely viewed to be unserious about tackling racism in America.
Widely considered a racist himself, Trump was believed to support white supremacist groups, having on at least one occasion retweeted comments made by the group on social media.
It follows the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the murder trial of George Floyd.
Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest in May 2020..
His death sparked protests across the US and worldwide, and calls for police reform Tuesday’s verdict has been widely welcomed in a country where police are rarely been convicted – if they are charged at all – for deaths which occur in custody.
But Mr Garland said he felt that the verdict would not “address potentially systemic policing issues in Minneapolis”.
The attorney general said the investigation would “include a comprehensive review of the Minneapolis Police Department’s policies, training, supervision and use-of-force investigations”.
It will also examine “whether its treatment of those with behavioural health disabilities is unlawful”, while looking at the “effectiveness of current systems of accountability and whether other mechanisms are needed to ensure constitutional and lawful policing”.
Mr Garland said both the community and law enforcement would have to take part if the investigation were to be a success, and he had already started reaching out to both.
If unlawful patterns or practices were found, he promised to issue a public report and bring a civil lawsuit.
Other high-profile deaths of black men by police in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as in Chicago and Baltimore have influenced the wider call for police reform in America.
At the end of its investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issues a report that often contains details that the public would otherwise have no access to. They may look at arrest statistics for any evidence of racial bias, or for signs of racism in emails sent between officers.
The report leads to an agreement – a consent decree – between the DOJ and the department to fix specific, troublesome practices.
The process can be slow, bureaucratic and largely invisible to the community, and sometimes departments operate under federal monitoring for years.
A series of events leading to Mr. Floyd’s untimely death began after police were called after a shop assistant believed 46-year-old Mr Floyd had used a counterfeit note to buy cigarettes.
Mr Floyd then refused to get into the police car, resulting in him being pinned to the ground with Chauvin pressing his knee to the back of Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
The late Afro American repeatedly told the officer he could not breathe during this time. On Tuesday, a jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, meaning he faces potentially decades in prison.
The three officers he was with during the arrest face trial later this year, accused of aiding and abetting murder in the second degree and aiding and abetting manslaughter in the second degree. If found guilty, the former officers – who were all fired – also face the possibility of decades in prison.
“Being able to know there is justice for African American people, just people of colour, period, in this world,” Philonise Floyd, Mr Floyd’s brother, said. “This is monumental. This is historic. This is a pivotal moment in history.”
The fatal shooting of Duante Wright – another unarmed African American man – during a traffic stop on 11 April , highlighted the senseless way in black people in the US are killed by police officers.
The video of Mr Floyd’s killing last May prompted outrage around the world, setting off days of demonstrations which spread across the entire US, with reformation of police departments at the heart of protesters’ demands.