Roundup: Bathhouses Re-Legalized and Another Bad MPD Report from the Evaluator

The City un-banned bathhouses as part of a Pride month policy agenda. We talk about this ordinance in context of query history, and discuss some of the past city dynamics around regulating business and sex. This is a round-up episode, and we also talked about the latest semi-annual report on Minneapolis Police Department reform progress. In short: not looking good!

We did a round-up because there are a lot of interesting things going on around the city. We'll have another episode out soon with our other two round-up topics.

Recorded 6/24/26.

Alert

Though the massive ICE activity dwindled in the Spring, we still face a determined wannabe-fascist regime. Mill City Hall asks you to plug in and take action:

• Donate to rent support and mutual aid funds
• Defend 612 is an entry-point to local neighborhood organizing
• Monarca continues to provide trainings for regular folks who want to help, and offers a hotline to report ICE activity: 612-441-2881

Don't forget to check out:

• Our Instagram account for clips that are easy to browse and share
• Cam's writings in the 2nd Ward Blog
• Ask Robin to do a portrait of your favorite tree

Minneapolis Un-Bans Bathhouses

Official actions

• LIMS file with official actions on the ordinance to repeal language
• Public hearing testimony at the Public Health committee: well worth a watch!
• Official city explainer on the issue

Media Coverage

• MPR: City Council votes to repeal ban
• MPR: Coverage of the Public Health committee hearing
• MPR: History of bathhouses and the ban

Report on Minneapolis Police Department Reform Progress

ELEFA released another semi-annual report in its role as the independent evaluator assigned by the Court to provide oversight. We have previously covered the prior ELEFA report. With additional oversight from the MN Commissioner of Human Rights, this report is the closest we get to a rigorous, independent evaluation of whether "reform" is meaningfully being accomplished.

• Read the report

Media Coverage

• MPR: Minneapolis falling behind meeting goals in police agreement with state
• MPR: O'Hara Departure Could be a 'Reset'

Critical Feedback

Selections from and notes on the report:

• Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero noted that Minneapolis police “remain far from achieving the transformational change necessary to address the root causes of race-based policing.”
• Report: The City’s progress [in tihs period] was decidedly mixed.
• Report: Collectively, [our] recommendations reflect that implementation must be a higher priority in the coming years than it has been for the last two years
  • other cities have demonstrated that implementing reform agreements need not detract from those obligations.
  • Other cities have come into compliance under consent decrees while reducing crime, increasing public safety, and building community trust. MPD has the ability to do the same.
  • It is just a matter of commitment
• Internal Affairs: highlighted substantial problems in the city’s internal affairs unit
  • The case backlog currently stands at about 55.
  • "The lack of progress is even more concerning because MPD leadership has long been aware of these deficiencies.”
  • Report: "Complaints that remain open for months, and even years, become a proverbial Sword of Damocles, hanging over the officer’s head, that prevents their advancement and undermines their morale and the morale of fellow officers"
  • Report: known since LAST report, but "Since [last semi-annual report], no meaningful progress has been made"
  • ELEFA said internal affairs doesn’t have the supervisory staffing to quickly move cases up the ladder to the chief.
  • even when an internal affairs case has made it all the way to the chief, it’s taken an average of about four months for a final decision,
  • Minneapolis police leadership .. have not committed to deadlines to reach the goal of eliminating the backlog by September
  • "We have to first hire new people, train new people, and get them to work, including the vendor, getting them up to speed,W Martin said. WMost likely the actual backlog will not be significantly reduced until the end of the year.
  • Lucero: "Public confidence and morale quickly erode when both community members and officers cannot clearly understand how misconduct complaints are investigated, why certain decisions are made, or whether meaningful consequences follow,”
• Early warning intervention system
  • ELEFA also highlighted the city’s lack of progress in instituting an early intervention system that’s designed to flag warning signs like stress or fatigue that make it more likely that officers will face health issues or commit misconduct. The report says the stalled program is due to “management weaknesses and personnel turnover.”
• [MPD Bureau Chief of Constitutional Policing Bureau] Ganesha Martin admitted that neither the community nor officers have faith in the department’s accountability systems.
• Report: Policy and training curricula development continues at an uneven pace.
  • the City has not achieved many of the goals it set for itself for years one and two of the implementation proces
• Report: we have also observed a lack of coordination between the several groups that must work together to implement the Agreement’s interconnected requirements.
• Report: we have observed that some individuals with responsibilities for implementation do not appreciate how their work relates to implementation overall
• Report: While ad hoc meetings are occasionally necessary, it is preferable and more efficient to set regular, standing meetings.
• Report: many MPD members, it is clear that many know little about the Agreement, and they report hearing little from the Department concerning the Agreement, its implementation and how it will affect them

Positive Feedback

Selections from and notes on the report:

• City has made "tangible improvements," including revamped use of force policies, a new policy management system and key training programs, as well as providing more officer wellness resources.
• Report: the MPD completed in-service training on updated use of force policies, and those policies became active on January 1, 2026. This is one of the four core topic areas of the Agreement ... a consequential accomplishment.

Positive Feedback That is Also Sad

Selections from and notes on the report:

• “Many of the key policy foundations are substantially in place. The task now is to train, implement and hold personnel accountable. Until that occurs, the public will not experience the changes to policing that MPD has promised and is working to deliver.”
• Report: the City and its police department are making continued, if uneven, progress toward that goal

ELEFA Recommendations

Recommendations from ELEFA in the report:

• Reassess personnel capacity, roles, and responsibilities.
• Establish clear supervisory authority, responsibility, and reporting.
• Supplement existing communication and coordination channels.
• Ensure that all personnel responsible for Agreement implementation understand how their role and responsibilities relate to Agreement implementation.
• Set and communicate aggressive but realistic deadlines.
• Establish standing meeting times to ensure availability of necessary personnel.
• Keep department personnel informed