FAQs

Have a question you don’t see here? Email us at mpls4ccp@gmail.com and we will add it to our FAQ page!

What is CPAC?

The Civilian Police Accountability Council will be a council of civilians, all of whom are elected by residents of Minneapolis, and none of whom are police officers. They will be representative of every neighborhood in the city, and therefore be diverse in terms of race and social class. They will have experience organizing in these communities, or be survivors or family members of the victims of police violence. They will be accountable to the residents of Minneapolis.

Where did the name CPAC come from? Isn’t that a Conservative conference for Republicans?

CPAC stands for Civilian Police Accountability Commission and is named after the CPAC initiative that took place in Chicago. The name was chosen because Minneapolis wanted to build off the progress of other cities who have been doing this work for decades. While CPAC also stands for Conservative Political Action Conference, the two groups are obviously very different.

Will CPAC defund the police?

CPAC would not directly defund the police. Mpls4CCP sees public safety as a larger concern with mental health, substance abuse, affordable housing, health care, and would incorporate funds addressing an array of public safety concerns. CPAC members would have the ability to propose a police budget to the mayor and city council. They could use that as an opportunity to reduce the police budget and change the way that funds are allocated within the department and city. One goal of CPAC is to get at the root of violence in the city, not merely react to it with ineffective punitive measures.

Can the city afford this?

Yep! CPAC will replace the Police Conduct Oversight Commission (PCOC) and the Office of Police Conduct Review (OPCR), so the city's functions will actually be streamlined. In addition the city has paid out over 70 million in wrongful death/harm civil lawsuit damages. When police commit fewer illegal and irresponsible acts, there will be less need to pay compensation, and the city will save a lot of money in the long run.

Are there any state laws that would prevent the charter amendment from being enacted if it is passed?

No, our CPAC legislation has been reviewed by a licensed attorney who confirmed that there are no state laws that would prevent the charter amendment from being enacted. The police chief will be the one disciplining officers based on recommendations from the CPAC, so this will not violate any state laws.

How is CPAC different from Yes4Mpls?

CPAC will change the city charter to allow for a democratically elected 13-member commission whose only duty is overseeing the police. Yes4Mpls proposed this duty be given to the current city council. CPAC goes beyond Yes4Mpls to explain in detail the structure and model for how this commission will function with community oversight and transparency. CPAC will give the community more direct control over how laws are enforced, and determines what public safety looks like in the community.

Will CPAC be able to hire and fire officers at will?

CPAC will oversee the hiring of the Minneapolis Chief of Police who will be accountable to hiring officers who care about the community they serve. If the Chief is ineffective in their role to form a force with well-trained public safety officers, they will be replaced.

Will CPAC run its own investigations into police violence?

Yes, one of the primary roles of CPAC is to run independent investigations into grievances filed against public safety officers. CPAC will have a publicly-accessible website where details of every investigation will be disclosed. The public will know who was involved in the incident, what evidence was collected, and what outcome was reached. That being said, CPAC will never release civilian names or identifiable information without the civilian’s consent. Victims of sexual or domestic violence will be allowed to keep the specific details of the complaint confidential if they so choose, with only an approved summary being made public. All records will be maintained permanently and not destroyed.

Will CPAC make it harder for police to do their job?

It should not be the job of the police to rob, rape, beat, harass, or kill civilians. That's not what we, the community, pay them to do. Police are not the judge, jury, and executioner, and if they think that is their job, they should not be on the police force. Police who respect the dignity and humanity of community members will not be inconvenienced by CPAC's creation, and in fact they will be protected by CPAC. Violent and corrupt cops will not be able to pressure and harass law-abiding cops into helping to cover up police crimes, because the details of every investigation will be public. With CPAC, complaint data will be investigated and trends analyzed so that bad cops are fired or prosecuted, and law-abiding cops will be secure in their jobs.

Why 13 CPAC officers, and how often will elections take place?

There are 13 neighborhood wards, and an odd number will allow for the commission to reach consensus more effectively.The election of CPAC officers will be conducted similarly to the way that city council members are voted for in formal democratic elections.

Who is eligible to run for CPAC and when would the first election be?

Anyone living in the CPAC district for at least a year is able to run in that district, as long as they have not been employed by a law enforcement agency or have immediate family members who have been law enforcement officers Candidates also must have at least two years of experience protecting civil or human rights, or have been a victim or family member of someone affected by police misconduct. The hope is that each ward will be represented and communities with a history of over-policing will have significant representation through CPAC.

Would CPAC be able to limit the power of the police federation?

CPAC members would have the ability to negotiate the police federation contract, and in doing so would be able to limit their power.

Would CPAC demand that police officers live in the area where they serve?

The CPAC legislation does not change this, but CPAC members would have the ability to create and change policy within the department and precincts, so they could potentially create this requirement.

Has this ever been done before?

Yes. The Black Panther 10 point program said: “We Want An Immediate End To Police Brutality And Murder Of Black People.” Towards that end, many people know that the BPP organized armed self-defense and copwatches in the community. Less well-known is that they also worked for community control of the police. According to Glen Ford, editor of Black Agenda Report, “Community control of police has always been understood to mean local BLACK people's control of police within the bounds of their communities. The necessity for Black community police oversight is based on historical and current realities and modern principles of self-determination – in other words, on the proven fact that white-dominated governing structures cannot be trusted to hire, supervise and discipline the cops that patrol Black communities; that Blacks have the right to police themselves, and not to be subject to the coercive power of hostile forces.” A 1970 petition in Berkeley called for 3 main things: requiring cops to live in the community where they work; splitting up the department into 3 separate PDs, serving different areas (in their case, one for predominantly Black neighborhoods, one for “campus”, and one for predominantly white neighborhoods); and establishing a community board with hiring, firing and policy-setting powers. Their fight was taken up across the country. In localities where it was on the ballot, national resources were mobilized to stop community control. Civilian review boards came about as a result of these struggles, and in some places, they were able to take real action to confront police abuses. The fight for community control continues today. From Chicago to Jacksonville, FL, to Salt Lake City, UT, people are organizing against police racism, violence, corruption and indifference, and demanding community control of the police. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist Police Repression is leading the pack, with CPAC. They have legislation in City Council for an all-elected, all-civilian police accountability council, with a representative from each police district in Chicago (25 total). CPAC candidates are not allowed to receive any money from outside their district; nor include cops or cops’ family members. These folks are not only working for CPAC, they are leading the fight to free dozens of torture victims from prison!