Minneapolis Mayor Unveils Latest Policing Policy Requiring Officers To Document Any Form Of De-Escalation

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Tuesday unveiled his latest policing policy on WCCO.

"For the first time in Minneapolis, we will be requiring police officers to document any form of de-escalation used in their use of force reports," Frey explained. "And that's whether it's a lower-level form, like an armbar or handcuffing -- or something more significant like a takedown. We want to make sure that any de-escalation used was documented."

Frey says it is a form of accountability but also a way to help officers handle incidents better.

"We do have that additional capability where body camera footage can be audited to make sure that whatever the officer is saying in the use of force report actually took place," Frey said. "So yes it is a form of accountability but again it also gives us the ability to go back to look at an interaction and to say, 'hey you know what, you did this all right but you can do it this way better.'"

Frey noted that this is a significant change but says the goal is for it to become "muscle memory" for officers to always be thinking about what they can do to de-escalate during situations.