Amid national push for police reform, Native people feel left out of conversation

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

Activists say the problems with that system are upheld by law enforcement authorities, who regularly mistreat Native people.

The vast majority of Native Americans live away from the reservation or tribal communities in which they’re officially enrolled. They live in cities like New York, Albuquerque, or Minneapolis, meaning that most of their law enforcement encounters happen with local police.

In Minneapolis, a city that became the center of a global racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd, police interactions with communities of color remain under intense scrutiny.

In June, the Department of Justice released its investigation into the Minneapolis police, launched after Floyd’s killing. Among its findings, MPD unlawfully discriminates against Black and Native American people. Officers stop Native residents at almost eight times the rate they stop white people. During those stops, Native people are at least 20 percent more likely to face searches or use of force.

And the disparities were worse in Minneapolis’ Third Precinct, where George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin and where many Native Americans live. That area, the DOJ said, is where officers referred to as cowboys wanted to work.