Take It To The Bank

MUCH-MALIGNED Minneapolis Police Officer Alisa Clemons should soon be $400,000 richer, thanks to the city. In 1992, Clemons was fingered by MPD administration as the perpetrator of an interdepartmental hate-mail campaign against black officers. Following a three-year investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office--which declined to file charges--Clemons was fired in '95 by Chief Robert Olson. At that time, Olson claimed the evidence against her was "overwhelming." A year later, however, Clemons was reinstated by an arbitrator who cited the city's lack of evidence. Throughout the investigation Clemons, a black officer herself, claimed she had been scapegoated by MPD administrators. The city attorney's office earlier this week recommended that the City Council pay Clemons to settle the discrimination suit she filed following the hate-mail investigation. The Council was expected to vote on the settlement Friday.