Confronting Excessive Force in Historical Perspective: Police Brutality Accusations in 1980s Minneapolis

In the first of a three-part series for The North Star, contributing writer, Dr. Kimberly Hill, an assistant professor of U.S. history, unpacks lesser known examples of excessive police force.

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Forty years ago, the Minnesota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated complaints about Twin Cities police officers using unmitigated excessive force. The committee report traced the complaints to two underlying concerns: a local policy that omitted de-escalation strategies and a depart…