From the BBC:
“Minneapolis rejects move to
replace police department”
Voters in Minneapolis have
rejected a proposal to replace the city's police with a new department of
public safety. The decision comes six months after a white Minneapolis officer
was convicted of murder for killing George Floyd. Floyd's filmed murder led to
several days of riots in the city and calls to "defund the police". Unlike
the police, who report to the mayor, the department of public safety would have
been jointly overseen by the mayor and the 13-member city council.
Mental health professionals would
have been dispatched for most non-violent crimes, but police officers would
have still been available should an arrest need to be made. The move was
championed by Minneapolis Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and the state's attorney
general, Keith Ellis, who oversaw the case against George Floyd's killer,
former officer Derek Chauvin. Mayor and fellow Democrat Jacob Frey, who was
also on the ballot on Tuesday, had opposed the move. Floyd's girlfriend
Courteney Ross told the Minneapolis Tribune that she was not sure if the
measure could prevent another black man from dying like Floyd. "If I could
say yes to that I would say vote yes, but I don't know," said Ms Ross.
Minneapolis is currently seeing a
severe high crime wave, with violent crimes on track to outrank last year's
record high. It comes as part of a national crime surge. A Reuters
investigation in September found that officer interactions with residents plummeted
in the year after Floyd's death in May 2020. Critics say that the data
suggested officers had abandoned their duty to keep the peace.
^ Finally, Minneapolis has done
something right. Getting rid of the Police is a stupid idea for any location. More
training, more oversight, etc. is the right answer. You can’t defund or abolish
the Police Department and then be surprised when your crime, violence and death
rates all go up. They are intertwined. ^
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