Press Coverage and Op-eds for The Minneapolis Reckoning

"Michelle S. Phelps on The Minneapolis Reckoning," Annex Sociology Podcast (June 17)

"Police Departments Have Shrunk. Crime Is Plummeting. Now What?," Q&A, Slate (June 20)

"How 2020 Changed Policing in Minneapolis," Q&A, Racket (June 11)

"The Minneapolis Reckoning with Michelle Phelps," Podcast, Wedge LIVE! (June 10)

"Safety Without Police," Excerpt, Inquest (June 6)

Letter to the Editor, "Crime and Punishment," Harper's Magazine (June 2024)

"Is Minneapolis a 'Secret Bellwether' for Understanding Policing and Race in America?" Review by C.J. Ciaramella, Reason Magazine (May 26)

"The Minneapolis Police Department Is Dismantling Itself," Op-ed, The New Republic (May 24)

"New book traces the city's journey to the brink of police reform," Interview, Minnesota Public Radio (May 22)

"Michelle S. Phelps on The Minneapolis Reckoning," Interview, Princeton Ideas Blog (May 9)

"Books on Policing and Politics," Review by Mary Ann Grossman, St. Paul Pioneer Press (May 5)

"The Minneapolis Reckoning," Interview, PBS Almanac (May 3)

"Challenging Police Power in Minneapolis," Interview, University of Minnesota News (May 2)

Data Collection

Over several years, my research team (which included, at various points, Santino Reynolds, AshLee Smith, De Andre' Beadle, Amber Joy Powell, Christopher Robertson, Dwjuan Frazier, Anneliese Ward, and Daniel Cueto-Villalobos) conducted several different data collection efforts to understand policing, police violence, and police reform, transformation, and abolition work in Minneapolis. The data include:

• 1. 1. Northside Residents. North Minneapolis disproportionately experiences both high rates of crime and police contact as compared to the rest of the city. We completed over 120 interviews with residents in North Minneapolis in 2017-2019. Lasting from 30-90 minutes, these interviews start with a short survey and continue with an open-ended qualitative interview about participants’ attitudes toward police, experiences with police, knowledge of MPD reforms, attitudes towards police reform, and desires for future change.* 

     2. Activists & Advocacy Groups. I conducted 25+ open-ended qualitative interviews with individuals leading police reform efforts. These individuals include politicians, police oversight, journalists, local organizers (e.g. with Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Black Visions Collective, and NAACP Minneapolis), and advocacy lawyers. Interviews lasted from 1-2.5 hours and provide narrative data on the person’s framing of the problems or challenges in policing and their work toward solutions. We also trace activists' organizing efforts from 2017-2023.

     3. Ethnographic Observations of Policing Events. The team attended 30+ public events related to policing, including meetings of the Governor's Council on Law Enforcement and Community Relationships, city council meetings, community forums, and vigils for the victims of police violence. In addition, we map public protests, activists' demands for change, and their reception in city hall. 

     4. Minneapolis Police Department. Using MPD’s press releases, media accounts, and historical archives, we document the long a timeline of MPD crises and reforms, from the start of the department through to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and Department of Justice investigations in 2022-2023.

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*Interview guide available here.

Funding

Our thanks to the project funders, which included: University of Minnesota’s Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship program; Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (Faculty Interactive Research Program); Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center; University of Minnesota Beverly and Richard Fink Summer Fellowship Program; Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, University of Minnesota; and Sociology Department, University of Minnesota.

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Photo credit for the banner image: Adam Bettcher/Reuters.