Minneapolis City Council Meets To Discuss Police Department

[MineralMan]

https://time.com/5848705/disband-and-replace-minneapolis-police/

I'm a Minneapolis City Council Member. We Must Disband the Police—Here's What Could Come Next

BY STEVE FLETCHER JUNE 5, 2020 9:57 AM EDT
Fletcher is a City Council Member for Ward 3 in Minneapolis, Minn.

On Tuesday, May 26, we woke up to find a video circulating of a Minneapolis Police officer named Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of a man, choking him to death while onlookers begged him to stop and three other officers stood by and did nothing. The process of mourning George Floyd’s death has sparked a permanent, generational change to the mainstream view of policing in America.

When I ran for the Minneapolis City Council in 2017, I knew that the Police Department had a decades-long history of violence and discrimination. I ran on a platform of police reform informed by my experience seeing police persistently harass young black canvassers that I worked with as a community organizer, and by the police shooting of Jamar Clark in 2015, which prompted weeks of protest outside the fourth precinct. In 2017, the police shooting of Justine Damond further cemented accountability as a central theme of that campaign year.

In my first two years on the Council, several factors have reinforced the context for reform. Minneapolis Police officers shot and killed four more people—Thurman Blevins, Travis Jordan, Mario Benjamin, and Chiasher Fong Vue—and were caught in a bodycam audit asking EMTs to sedate suspects and others with ketamine. The Police Federation refused to comply with a department ban on “warrior training” and took an intentionally divisive on-stage role at a Trump rally.

I have been surprised, then, by how difficult and controversial it has been to pass the relatively small budget changes that we have made, which have not even cut their budget but merely redirected some proposed increases to fund a new Office of Violence Prevention. Other programmatic proposals to change the way we police have been met with stiff institutional resistance.

More at link

That City Council member wants to "disband the Minneapolis Police Department." While it's unlikely that will happen, the City Council is meeting to discuss what to do about the MPD. The city is about to face a multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit, no doubt. That lawsuit will probably result in a judgment against the City of Minneapolis which will result in a very large payout indeed. The city has been forced through other lawsuits to pay millions in the past.

So, what to do? That's what the City Council will be discussing. It cannot afford such judgments caused by violent actions by its police force. One think that will be discussed is dissolving the current bargaining agreement with the local Police Union, led by Lt. Bob Kroll, an officer who has been charged with overreacting in several cases. One of those led to a $700,000+ judgment against the city. Kroll has been photographed with a "White Power" symbol sewn to his jacket.

At a very minimum, I believe the City Council should dissolve its current agreement with the Police Union and fire Lt. Bob Kroll. Then, a reorganization of the MPD should take place, along with serious civilian oversight over the MPD's operations. Racism and violence in arrests of people of color have gone on far too long, and must be ended.

We will see what the City Council decides to do.

[AllyCat]

1. Walker dissolved Wisconsin's agreements with labor unions and we all protested

It is difficult to say they are just going to not abide by a legal contract. BUT...

there is certainly precedent for doing exactly this and there must be some provision for the police violating the law allowing for dissolution of all or part of the contract (I don't know...just speculating).

And the police unions are a professional union, not a labor union.

Frankly, I say go at these a$$holes with everything they can get. An overstep (if that is even the case) of the City's bounds here would probably be welcomed by the community and might save some lives.

F*cking violent, racist cops need to be put out.

[MineralMan]

4. I do expect some sort of very strong action from the City Council.

Exactly what that will be remains to be seen, though.

[The Magistrate]

2. The Police Unions Should Be Broken Wholesale, Sir

They are a major source of the difficulties, serving as a shelter and support for criminal police.

That the members of the union in Minneapolis elected Kroll as their union chief suggests reorganization of the department is unlikely to be sufficient. The officers knew who he was and what they were voting for. Dissolving the existing department and recruiting new officers ought to be seriously considered, and is probably the best course. Examples need to be made, and this would be an excellent one for police officers and their unions nationwide.

The brutal behavior dubbed 'law enforcement' cannot be tolerated any longer.

There must be a reckoning.

[MineralMan]

3. I await the City Council's decision.

I live across the Mississippi River in St. Paul, so it is just a matter of curiosity for me, personally.

Perhaps the disbanding and reorganization of the MPD will be required. I don't know. In any case, it's likely to be a disruptive exercise, however it is decided.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. It will be a hard sell, especially with the police federation

headed by that Trumpist bastard Bob Kroll, throwing roadblocks in the way. But I like the concepts, and when you see what the affected community of south Minneapolis has been doing on its own, without the police helping at all, to protect the neighborhood and work with people who need help, it should be the way to go.

From what I've been seeing on my teevee it looks like other cities should be doing the same thing: Start over. Reorganize, retrain, and rehire only those officers who haven't been poisoned by racism and authoritarianism and the attitude that was expressed to me by a MPD cop almost 30 years ago - that there are only two classes of people: Cops and assholes. Current policing seems to involve a mindset that the city is basically Fallujah and the citizens are enemies and terrorists. So - hire social workers, community organizers and psychologists. Reinstate the old rule that required them to live in the city they work for. Get officers out on foot so they know their communities. It's a lot harder to brutalize people when you know them.

[MineralMan]

7. Bob Kroll has to go.

One way or another. Perhaps he'll resign, if put under enough pressure.

No doubt, everyone on the City Council understands that he is the real source of the problem. There has to be a way to rid the MPD of him. I'm sure they'll figure it out this time, and I expect to hear about that very shortly.

I don't know what his actual job in the MPD is.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. He's been around for quite awhile; he should be close to retirement.

Maybe he could be made an offer for that to happen sooner.

[MineralMan]

9. I believe he has said he will not seek that position

again with the Police Federation. So, maybe retirement from that position will be his next step. I would like to see him leave the MPD altogether.

If I were the police chief, he'd be sitting at a desk in some corner somewhere with crap paperwork duties, Lieutenant or not.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Here are some key actions to take.

Anyone with a white power patch on clothing worn as a citizen or police officer will be fired.
Anyone that participates in any "warrior training", military or other unsanctioned training will be fired.
Everyone will go thru a psych eval to determine if they have the mental capacity to deal with the public in a calm and sane manner. If they fail they are let go.

Standards will be developed. Preferably they will meet any future national standards that police officers must comply with.

Those in command positions need to be evaluated too to determine their qualification. If they give orders knowingly that violate the law or established standards they get fired.