on todays episode we discuss In recent years, many police departments have trained officers to be alert to the risk of what's called "positional asphyxia," the possibility that prolonged restraint of a suspect in a prone position can be deadly. It's a lesson some in the Minneapolis Police Department already learned once, 10 years ago.

Minneapolis paid out $3 million to settle a lawsuit over the 2010 death of David Smith, 28. The young black man was mentally ill, his attorneys said, and died after officers Tasered him and then held him facedown on the floor for several minutes. One of them kept a knee on his back even after he stopped responding to questions.

In 2013 the city of Minneapolis paid $3 million to the family of David Cornelius Smith, who died after police pinned him face down, while handcuffed, on the floor of a downtown YMCA.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, West alleges he tried to comply and the officers beat him anyway. According to the suit, Tyler Klund's father, Sgt. Darcy Klund, cleared the officers of wrongdoing by conducting a supervisor use-of-force review on his son.
1994–2002: Robert Olson served as Chief of the MPD until his dismissal through federal mediation in 2002.

2001: Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), which was established, was critical of the 2003 Mediation Agreement between the City of Minneapolis and federal mediators, who had come together to "discuss police misconduct." Initially, the city refused to do so in spite of the Jordan riot.

2002: William McManus began his terms as MPD chief of police. He resigned in 2006 when he joined the San Antonio Police Department.

March 2002: A MPD police officer shot and killed a "machete-wielding Somali man.

Riots broke out in north Minneapolis in response to the March 2002 shooting death.

2003: The MPD "entered into a federal mediation agreement with the U.S. Justice Department" to address a number of police issues including "use of force, diversity and race relations." The mediation agreement was intended to "soothe community tensions".

2005: The Minnesota Legislature 2005 introduced laws to "improve coordination of gang and drug enforcement efforts" throughout Minnesota. As part of this "reorganization" the state-level Metro Gang Strike Force (2005 - 2009).2  The Legislature had created the state level Gang and Drug Oversight Council, the "Council" (2005 - 2010) to "establish and supervise multi-jurisdictional task forces and strike forces" across Minnesota. The Minnesota Gang Strike Force was dissolved at this time.The council had 32 voting members including the Attorney General, chiefs of police selected by the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, sheriffs, representative from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Minnesota Tribal Law Enforcement Association, and others.

2006: Bob Kroll, who has been a police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department since 1989, was appointed as Federation vice president after having served on the board of directors in 1996.Over 41,593 inmates were book by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

2007: By 2007 the Minneapolis-based Hennepin County Sheriff's Office with its headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, was one of the "largest law enforcement agencies in Minnesota." The Sheriff's Office had "division and unit facilities spread" throughout Hennepin County. At the time, the Office had a $69 million operational budget.