[Sally Yates]

The city will not move ahead with an independent investigation into the use of ketamine on people detained by Minneapolis police.

The City Council on Sept. 21 voted 10-3 against awarding a $195,000 contract for the investigation to former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates and King & Spalding LLP, the Atlanta-based law firm where Yates is a partner. Mayor Jacob Frey in June recommended Yates lead an inquiry into whether Minneapolis officers improperly encouraged emergency medical services personnel to administer ketamine, a powerful sedative, to people in police custody.

Questions about interactions between police and ambulance crews came to light after the draft version of a report by the city’s Office of Police Conduct Review was obtained by the Star Tribune, which published an initial story in mid-June. OPCR didn’t deliver a final version of its report to the council until over a month later, on July 26.

Several council members who voted against the Yates contract said they were satisfied with the OPCR investigation and did not want to duplicate the office’s efforts.

“I definitely do not support the allocation of this money to continue a study that our own Civil Rights Department has completed,” said Council Member Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5), who voted with the majority. “I think that I would need evidence that the objectivity of our Civil Rights Department was compromised, and no one — not a single person — has been able to provide evidence that our Civil Rights Department’s objectivity was compromised in this instance.”

Continued:

http://www.journalmpls.com/news/civic-beat/2018/09/council-scuttles-independent-ketamine-inquiry/