Sergeant Giovanni Veliz, a Minneapolis Police officer, has introduced a civil action against the Minneapolis Police department for discrimination. The action, at this moment a Civil Rights Investigation, has already launched actions to produce evidence. According to confidential information we’ve received, the case goes back to October 2004, when Sergeant Veliz was relieved of his administrative duties, to assigned to night time patrol. According to a copy of the complaint that was provided to us, the Minneapolis Police department submitted Sergeant Veliz to harassment, disparate treatment, a hostile work environment, and retaliation from that date.
The complaint establishes that the actions were taken against sergeant Veliz because of his insistence in raising the issue that the department had not complied with a federal mediation agreement that was entered between the Police department and members of Minneapolis minority organizations(PCRC). The mediation agreement established that the police department would diversify the police department, establish partnerships with community based organizations, and foster cultural awareness and sensitivity for Minneapolis citizens. This agreement included 82 action items that force the police department not only to incorporate Spanish speaking officers to the police force that know Latino culture, but also covers specific situations in which orders and notifications to Spanish speaking people should include a Spanish translation.
This agreement was reached thanks to mediation from the United States Department of Justice, Community relations office, and was supposed to have been implemented a year ago. The lawsuit also alleges that in more than one occasion Sergeant Veliz was denied the opportunity to receive executive training in retaliation for his position in favor of implementing points of the federal mediation agreement. Veliz alleges that he was denied a promotion to police lieutenant, after having applied to the position and being qualified for
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