Minneapolis voters to decide on scrapping police department, 18 months after George Floyd murder

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Angela Harrelson points toward a blue angel painted on the pavement, marking the spot where a Minneapolis police officer murdered her nephew George Floyd and ignited a national police reform movement.

"If a mental health worker or a social worker had been with the police the day my nephew died right here, he might very well still be alive today," Harrelson said. "I don't want to abolish the police, but we need to do something different."

On Tuesday, Minneapolis voters get to decide just how different their city's approach to policing should be. A ballot question asks residents whether they want to replace the police department with a new department of public safety, in the first big electoral test of reform efforts sparked by Floyd's May 2020 killing.

But even after the outrage over his death and the tense protests that followed, the progressive city is deeply divided over the future of its law enforcement. The split illustrates the tricky calculus around overhauling policing in major U.S. cities, as residents fear for their safety amid crime spikes and Democratic politicians worry about Republicans weaponizing the issue in next year's congressional elections.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/minneapolis-voters-to-decide-on-scrapping-police-department-18-months-after-george-floyd-murder/ar-AAQ9gln?li=BBnb7Kz

[Ocelot II]

1. Bad headline. The proposal isn't about "scrapping" the police department.

It involves rolling law enforcement functions into a "department of public safety" that would also include social workers and psychologists. Personally, although I agree with the concept, I have misgivings about it because the proposal about who is to do what, who is to manage the department, and how it is to be funded is so vague that it's been to court twice to try to get it clarified, but those questions still haven't been answered. Supposedly it doesn't mean abolishing the police, but the way the measure is worded, that would actually be possible, partly because the city council is largely comprised of disorganized morons. A majority of Black voters actually oppose the measure - the police department is badly understaffed and there has been an increase in crime in all neighborhoods. MPD has been a cesspool of racist assholery for decades but I'm not convinced this proposal will improve the situation.

[mn9driver]

2. Agree 100 percent.

The proposal eliminates the city charter requirement for a police force, but no one seems to know exactly how that would happen or what system would replace it or how long it would take or what it would cost.

It looks like a recipe for disaster to me. Luckily, my City Council rep is firmly against it. But she is in the minority on the Council.

[Ocelot II]

3. My rep, Andrea Jenkins, is for it but with reservations.

She doesn't want to defund the police, and she acknowledges the need for a police chief and an accountable police force. She's at least an improvement over her GOP opponent.