‘The whole world is watching, and we can declare policing as we know it a thing of the past…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) The Minneapolis City Council is seriously considering “disbanding” the city’s police department in light of George Floyd’s death, according to council member Steve Fletcher.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Fletcher said that he and other council members are “working on finding out what it would take to disband the Minneapolis Police Department and start fresh with a community-oriented, non-violent public safety and outreach capacity.”
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| City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins sings Amazing Grace during a news conference Thursday, May 28, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minn. Violent protests over the death of a black man in police custody rocked a Minneapolis neighborhood for a second straight night as angry crowds looted stores, set fires and left a path of damage that stretched for miles. The mayor asked the governor to activate the National Guard. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP) |
I don’t know yet, though several of us on the council are working on finding out, what it would take to disband the MPD and start fresh with a community-oriented, non-violent public safety and outreach capacity.
Our city needs a public safety capacity that doesn’t fear our residents. That doesn’t need a gun at a community meeting. That considers itself part of our community. That doesn’t resort quickly to pepper spray when people are understandably angry. That doesn’t murder black men.
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“The whole world is watching, and we can declare policing as we know it a thing of the past,” he added.
At least three other city council members echoed Fletcher’s concerns, including council members Alondra Cano and Lisa Bender:
Yes. We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety. twitter.com/jeremiah4north…
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Some in the council have been attempting to reduce the funding and power of the MPD for years, according to City Pages. But now that protesters have taken to Minneapolis’s streets, they believe there is a real chance that they could completely disband the MPD for good.
Not one member, however, has explained what exactly the “new model of public safety” would look like, or how it would protect Minneapolis’s citizens from crime.
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