April 1 (UPI) -- The Minneapolis City Council has unanimously approved a historic police reform agreement between state and local officials nearly three years after the police murder of George Floyd.
The agreement, reached between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, follows a scathing report issued by the agency in the wake of Floyd's May 2020 killing at the hands of former Minneapolis Police Department Office Derek Chauvin.
Floyd's death led to a worldwide wave of protest against police misconduct and sparked calls for a radical rethinking of how public safety is conducted.
The state report, issued a year ago, uncovered evidence the MPD had long engaged in a pattern of illegal, racist conduct.
Among the changes required in the 140-page agreement approved Friday are limits to the use of tasers and non-lethal equipment, as well as a requirement for officers to give out business cards displaying their names and badge information to individuals who are stopped for traffic infractions.
Requirements for traffic stops will also be increased, with minor infractions like a dead lights no longer being sufficient cause. Additionally, the smell of cannabis will no longer be considered probable cause for "stop and frisk" searches and police officers will be required to record their reasoning for traffic stops into their body cameras.
Officers will also be disciplined for not intervening against fellow officers who are engaged in misconduct.
The city will hire an independent evaluator who will have a $1.5 million budget to oversee compliance with the agreement. Local officials say 27 full-time employees will be needed to assist the evaluator.
"It is our fervent hope that the reform agreement will improve the quality of policing, enhance the training and well-being of officers and most importantly, increase trust of law enforcement in the community, particularly among those who have for so long have been marginalized and mistreated," Floyd's legal team, headed by Ben Crump, said in a statement.