City Council advances plan to dismantle Minneapolis Police Department

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-council-puts-plan-to-abolish-police-in-motion/571500002/

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council on Friday unanimously approved a radical proposal to change the city charter that would allow the police department to be dismantled, following mass public criticism of law enforcement over the killing of George Floyd.

The 12-0 vote is just the first step in a process that faces significant bureaucratic obstacles to make the November ballot, where the city’s voters would have the final say. And it came amid a spate of recent shootings in Minnesota’s largest city that have heightened many citizens’ concerns about talk of dismantling the department.

The Minneapolis force has come under heavy pressure since Floyd, a Black man in handcuffs, died May 25 after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes. Activists had long accused the department of being unable to change a racist and brutal culture, and earlier this month, a majority of the council proclaimed support for dismantling the department.

Doing so would first require amending the city charter. Draft language of the amendment posted online would replace the department with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention, “which will have responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach.”

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I hope it works. MPD has been a racist cesspool for decades.

[The Magistrate]

2. A Commendable Effort, Ma'am

Certainly the Minneapolis department has shown a majority of its officers are not fit to serve. This is made clear by their election of such a vicious, active agent of evil as Kroll to be their union chief. I confess that 'Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention' strikes my ear a little strange, but that is certainly what a police force ought to do. At the very least, the existing department needs to be shown it can be dissolved and dismissed for its egregious misconduct. And if this works out well, it may inspire imitation in other cities.

[hunter]

3. There are plenty of police departments in the U.S. that need to be torn completely down...

... and rebuilt from the ground up.

It's like those home improvement shows where they take down the drywall and discover the condition of the house is so bad it's dangerous.

So they knock down the old house, haul 99% of it away in dumpsters, clear the land, and pour new foundations...

[mwooldri]

4. Though I'm tempted to suggest...

... they introduce it as the Minneapolis Police Service. I can hear criminals now saying "oh shit it's the MiPS... " I was slightly disappointed that the Royal Ulster Constabulary was not renamed the Northern Ireland Police Service (NIPS) when they reformed their police service a few years back (they went with Police Service of Northern Ireland instead).

I suppose having a Department of Community Safety in charge with a traditional police service as part of its remit is a good way to restructure police services - and not just in Minneapolis. Social services can be brought in under its umbrella and for services where a person more skilled in social work would suit the situation better then a Community Safety Officer could be dispatched - unarmed and not in a super fast cop car.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Afternoon kick.