Minnesota

Minneapolis police oversight commission hasn’t met in five months

A City of Minneapolis commission, tasked with civilian oversight of the police, is no longer holding meetings.

That’s because six of the nine positions on the Police Conduct Oversight Commission, are open, despite records that show people have applied to serve.

Applicants, like Emma Pederson, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.

Pederson applied to the commission in September 2021.

“I thought that my skill set is perfectly what the PCOC is intended to do,” she said, pointing to her degree and studies in policing and public policy. “As with any other system of government, we need those checks and balances and the civilian body is, I think, that check on the police department’s power.”

Pederson’s application was among more than a dozen submitted in the last year, according to records obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. Despite the interest, city leaders haven’t appointed anyone to the PCOC.