Hubert Humphrey Reforms (jul 23, 1945 – nov 4, 1948)

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Hubert Humphrey appointed Bradshaw Mintener as chair of a 12-person committee to choose a new police chief who would "act decisively against organized crime, enforce the law evenly, bring down the high rate of crime and juvenile delinquency, and reform the corrupt police department."

As mayor, he started sending police officers to the University of Minnesota for training in what was then called "human relations." In August, MPD officers "arrested, jailed and interrogated" two black women who had refused to comply with police orders for men to "produce their draft cards" and for women to "open up their purses" at Dreamland Café. Humphrey personally drove directly to the police station and had the women released that evening. One of the jailed women worked for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, a black newspaper that had been founded in 1934. She contacted Spokesman-Recorders founder, editor and publisher, Cecil Newman. Newman contacted Hubert Humphrey, the newly elected mayor of Minneapolis who had promised "action on civil rights," Newman had was Humphrey's friend and had supported his bid for election. By the time he left the office of mayor after three years, he had "made great progress in Minneapolis in parts of his civil rights agenda," he but he had "never came close to reforming the police department," according to The Washington Post.

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