Remember the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Gang Strike Force? It made the news a few years back after it was caught stealing vehicles, beating people, and stealing cash:
The stories and payouts to 96 victims of the now-defunct Strike Force, cited in 600 pages of documents released last week in a class-action lawsuit, provide the most detailed picture yet of an out-of-control police squad, and put a price on every wrongful seizure, unjustified punch or dubious raid.
The force was disbanded after the MPD couldn’t cover its misdeeds up any longer. But everything old is new again. Guess what police department just announced a new gang unit? That’s right, the MPD:
Hoping to stem retaliatory shootings this summer, the Minneapolis police department is launching a new unit solely focused on gang-related crime.
Chief Janeé Harteau announced the change Wednesday during a City Council briefing about summer crime strategies. Details were sparse Wednesday, but she said the unit would consist of five officers and one sergeant.
Welcome to modern policing. Bad ideas are, at most, disappeared for a short time while the public forges about them. Once a bad idea has faded from memory it is brought back under a slightly different name. If anybody does point out how poorly the idea worked out last time they’re told “This time will be different.” I’m sure it will only be a few years until evidence surfaces that this new gang unit is involved in the same shit as the old one.