View Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Duluth - Police Department
Mike Ceynowa, Chief of Police
2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
For more information contact:
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
DATE: 5/4/2022
SUBJECT: Response to LEAN Duluth
BY: Mattie Hjelseth, Duluth Police Department Public Information Officer
NATURE OF INCIDENT:
CASE NO.:
INCIDENT DATE:
INCIDENT TIME:
INCIDENT LOCATION:
SUBJECT: Response to LEAN Duluth
BY: Mattie Hjelseth, Duluth Police Department Public Information Officer
NATURE OF INCIDENT:
CASE NO.:
INCIDENT DATE:
INCIDENT TIME:
INCIDENT LOCATION:
Response to LEAN Duluth
On March 26, 2021, the Duluth Branch of NAACP held a press conference in which Classie Dudley, NAACP President, said that ‘the Duluth Police Department has been engaged in years of racially biased policing against black, indigenous, and people of color’ and demanded answers from DPD.
The Duluth Police Department understood the NAACP’s claims to be serious and as such, worked with all due diligence to have a third-party review of our data. After a research and vetting process, we contracted with Police Strategies LLC in July of 2021 with the primary goal to better understand our data to help us improve our services to our community.
Police Strategies LLC was cost-effective, timely, and was an independent third-party researcher having been utilized by over 90 other law enforcement agencies.
The 172-page Demographic Disparity Analysis was presented publicly on March 30, 2022. The analysis presented by Bob Scales, researcher and CEO of Police Strategies LLC, found disparities similar to other cities in the United States and ‘found no evidence to suggest systemic practices of biased policing or racial profiling occurring within the Duluth Police Department.’
Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said, “The Duluth Police Department has dedicated and caring professional police officers who we hire for their character, are guided by best practice policy, led by ethical leaders, and dedicated to continuous improvement in our training to show up in professional, respectful, and just manner. Biased policing of any kind has no quarter here. We have the courage to confront attitudes and behaviors that do not uphold our mission and social contract. Disparities are not a statistic on a spreadsheet to us, it is someone’s life and we must all do everything we can, and more, to build an equitable community. That said, disparities do not unilaterally equate to bias by DPD. DPD and the community benefitted from this study and as we previously stated, this is a starting point for continuing conversations with our community to address the drivers of disparities in Duluth.”
The Duluth Police Department is committed to continuous improvement and working with our community to make Duluth safe for all. DPD and the Racial Bias committee have been working together and are reviewing proposals from multiple vendors to provide a Racial Biased Audit.
###