Police Reform Is On The Ballot In Minneapolis. But It's About More Than Defunding The Police.
On June 7, 2020, in the wake of the high-profile murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, nine members of the City Council made a public statement: The police department couldn’t just be “reformed” — public safety in the city would have to be drastically altered. On that summer afternoon, large white letters leaning against the stage spelled out “Defund Police.”
Since Floyd’s murder, “defund the police” has become a political catchphrase used to rally supporters and opponents of a policy that is far more complex than the rhetoric suggests. Unpopular among the American public, it has been used as a bogeyman by Republicans — and some moderate Democrats — to scare voters away from electing progressives as violent crime rates have risen nationwide. (Despite the fears of some Democrats, though, it’s unclear whether it has actually hurt the broader party at the ballot box.) But the slogan can take many forms in practice, from reallocating part of the police budget to social services to setting up accountability structures. Often it’s an outright misnomer, simply a way for criminal-justice activists to express their anguish and frustration with the repeated killings of people of color at the hands of police.
Such is the case now in Minneapolis, where on Tuesday voters will decide the fate of City Question 2, a municipal ballot measure that would replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety under the City Council’s control. The debate leading up to the vote shows just how much one idea can take on wildly different meanings. Just like “defund the police,” Question 2 is more than the sum of its parts.
Black activists who want to protect their communities from violence look at Question 2 and don’t always see the same risks and opportunities. The Rev. JaNaé Bates, director of communications for Isaiah, a faith-based nonprofit that advocates for social and economic justice, is working with the nonprofit coalition that got Question 2 on the ballot. She’s frustrated that Black Minneapolitans are consolidated into neighborhoods that are underserved and overpoliced and wants to see both of those problems change.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/police-reform-is-on-the-ballot-in-minneapolis-but-its-about-more-than-defunding-the-police/