As Minneapolis awoke to calm one day after a jury's verdict that former city police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday launched a sweeping investigation into policing practices in the city.

The probe "will assess whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests," Garland told a news conference.

Chauvin's conviction was a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans.

Garland has previously said he will make cracking down on police misconduct a priority.

The Justice Department previously announced an investigation into whether the officers involved in Floyd's death violated his civil rights.

The Justice Department on Friday withdrew a policy put in place during former President Donald Trump's administration that limited the tools the federal government could use to monitor and probe police misconduct.

Garland, in a memo to staff, said the department would return to its traditional practices of investigating state and local police departments, allowing unit heads to approve most settlements and consent decrees.

MORE: https://globalnews.ca/news/7775528/biden-chauvin-trial-verdict-george-floyd/

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