Equipment and Non-Database Technology
Assessment Report Prepared for the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department
By Carmen Facciolo, Neil Hubbert, Dr. Jessica Herbert, Dan Gomez, and Eric Patterson
On June 1, 2020, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) filed a discrimination charge against the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). The charge alleged that the City and MPD were involved in a pattern or practice of race discrimination. After investigating the allegations, the Commissioner issued Findings on April 27, 2022. As a result, the City of Minneapolis and MDHR entered a court-enforceable settlement agreement, necessitating a review of operations, including the review of equipment and technology. As part of this agreement, the MPD is obligated to complete an assessment of current equipment and technology and to develop a plan for changes, upgrades, or additional procurement. This assessment adhered to the requirements in Section II: Resource Support for MPD Employees, paragraphs 246-250. The recommendations included in this report are intended to support the requirement for MPD to develop a plan (“Equipment Technology, and Facilities Response Plan”, para. 248) and schedule for periodic equipment assessments (para. 250).
To fulfill this requirement, the City of Minneapolis selected The Consortium for Health, Justice, and Safety (referred to as The Consortium) to conduct this assessment. The goal of this assessment is to ensure that the MPD is leveraging modern and emerging technologies that support public safety, transparency, officer safety, and assessment of the operational viability of equipment and technology. This assessment requested the following efforts to be performed by the assessment team:
1. Solicit pertinent information from MPD employees.
2. Inspect sufficient examples of non-database technology to produce accurate analysis that identifies all components and elements requiring upgrades or new non-database technology.
3. Evaluate current conditions and effectiveness of non-database technology; identify current conditions.
4. Evaluate functionality and performance meets operational needs, reliability, speed, and vendor support.
5. Evaluate user experience and training; identify usability and intuitiveness, and additional needs for training and/or support.
6. Evaluate compatibility and integration (performance with other systems and programs).
7. Evaluate data security and privacy (e.g., security protocols, protection against unauthorized access, data breaches, and potential misuse)
8. Evaluate scalability and futureproofing.
9. Recommend corrections.
10. Provide suggested priority list and timeline for replacement/repair work.
In October 2023, the Consortium for Health, Justice, and Safety was selected as the entity to perform such assessments, completing all work in January 2024.
The Consortium’s Methodology & Approach The Consortium performed this assessment in a three-phased approach of discovery, site visit interviews and observations, and analysis and reporting. The Consortium leveraged IDEA Analytics’ Building Analytical Capacity™ (BAC) framework as the objective and evidencebased process to guide review of relevant MPD policies and procedures, conduct interviews, and identify any gaps or deficiencies (see Figure 1). IDEA’s BAC framework examines five domains which describe the characteristics and processes which are essential for an organization to effectively use all equipment, technology, and data for operations. These domains guided questions during interviews to gain insights into MPD’s management and decision making around equipment and non-database technology uses. Insights gleaned in each of these areas formulated the recommendations outlined in this report.
Policy Reviews. The Consortium reviewed the publicly released Minneapolis Police Department Policy and Procedure Manual. 2 The review of these policies and procedures with the MPD staff was conducted throughout the discovery phase and led to additional documentation requested regarding specific technology and equipment use. The Consortium received documentation on procedures, policies, and training from MPD leadership from the Forensic Division, Strategic Intelligence Center, Special Operations Bureau, Business Technology Unit, Training Division, and the City of Minneapolis Information Technology (IT) Department throughout November 2023. The evaluation of these policies is based on other industry standards, best practices, or other technical requirements and/or practices related to information security.
Training and Inventory Documentation. MPD provided equipment inventories and training manuals or course materials from various units and divisions. The Consortium also requested and received documentation on procurement processes, data security, and protection information from MPD Business Technology Unit and City IT Department.
Interviews. The Consortium conducted in-person or virtual interviews with personnel from MPD, including officers, sergeants, lieutenants, MPD Commanders, and City IT (n=29) in November and December 2023. Virtual interviews were conducted with operational staff to accommodate shift schedules or staffing restraints. These interviews further explained policies and procedures on common equipment and/or identified additional equipment and technology needs. The Consortium conducted a site visit to Minneapolis, MN on December 5-6, 2023, to conduct further interviews with staff, and to observe the operation of equipment and technology for all divisions.
During this site visit, The Consortium visited the following locations and observed equipment and non-database technology functions as applicable:
Public Service Building (PSB), located at 505 4th Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55415
MPD Business Technology Unit
MPD Forensic Division Lab, including firearm testing and reference collection rooms.
City Information Technology Department
MPD Garage for Special Operations, located at Haaf Memorial Ramp, 424 South 4th St. Minneapolis, MN 55415
City of Minneapolis Public Works Garage, Royalston Maintenance Facility, located at 661 N 5th Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55405
MPD K9 Unit Kennels, located at 15 37th Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55418
MPD Hamilton Special Operations Center, located at 4131 Dupont Ave. N. Minneapolis, MN 55412
MPD Strategic Information Center within the Emergency Operations Training Facility located at 25 37th Ave. N.E. Minneapolis, MN 55421
