Current Events > Minneapolis city council members consider disbanding the police

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http://www.citypages.com/news/minneapolis-city-council-members-consider-disbanding-the-police/570993291

If youve been tuned into the Minneapolis public safety scene, you know that for years, Reclaim the Block and other grassroots community groups have been asking the city to do one thing: stop investing in policing.

Budget meeting after budget meeting, theyd turn out with their petitions and signs, demanding the city put less money into its police department and more money into programs that stop crimes from happening in the first place affordable housing, addiction counseling, violence prevention programs.

The council's been listening.

I think weve had a vision for a while of wanting to see another kind of city response to those [911] calls, says Council Member Steve Fletcher, whose Ward 3 covers parts of downtown.

Calls about mental health crises could be answered by mental health professionals. Calls about opioid abuse could be answered by addiction experts. Instead, both get cops, usually armed.

But its one thing to think thats a good idea and another to get it done. The city has struggled to put any of these reforms in place in a substantial way, Fletcher says.

Then George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.

Now the council members are listening to a city that is wounded, angry, fed up with decades of violence disproportionately visited upon black and brown residents. Various private and public bodies from First Avenue to Minneapolis Public Schools have essentially cut ties with the police department. Council members are trying to figure out what their next move is.

Their discussion is starting to sound a little more like what groups like Reclaim the Block and the Black Visions Collective have been saying for years. On Tuesday, Fletcher published a lengthy Twitter thread saying the police department was irredeemably beyond reform, and a protection racket that slows down responses as political payback.

Several of us on the council are working on finding out what it would take to disband the Minneapolis Police Department and start fresh with a community-oriented, nonviolent public safety and outreach capacity, he wrote.

Council Member Phillipe Cunningham retweeted the thread saying police slowdowns after cut budgets had been his exact experience as a council member. Council Member Alondra Cano was also among those who chimed in, with a similar, but more concise note.

Fletcher says the entire council to some degree has been discussing disbanding the police department as an option. He doesnt yet know what that will look like. He suspects its a transition that will take time, and the involvement and possibly voting capacity of residents.

But now more than ever, this feels within reach. Earlier this week, the council members unanimously signed on in support of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights incoming investigation into the police department.

"We urge the state to use its full weight to hold the Minneapolis Police Department accountable for any and all abuses of power and harms to our community and stand ready to aid in this process as full partners. The City Councils oversight of the Minneapolis Police Department has been historically constrained by the City Charter and state law and we welcome new tools to pursue transformational, structural changes to how the City provides for public safety."

The power of state law, Fletcher says, might allow them to do things once thought politically impossible on the city level.

Even, say, recently. In 2018, the council voted to divert all of $1.1 million away from the police and toward "community-driven public safety programs." Last year, Mayor Jacob Frey's initial budget proposal called for hiring 14 additional police officers. After loud criticism from activists, Frey and the council compromised on a plan to hire 38 police cadets, with other funding going toward violence prevention.

Fletcher's looking forward to conversations with the community on how a new public safety approach would work including some deeply uncomfortable conversations about use of force, and whether it still has a place in the citys approach to law enforcement. But what hes seen the community do already to take care of itself forming fire watches, putting up unhoused folks in hotels, looking out for one another in a time of unrest gives him hope for the future.

After all, this is an idea that came from residents led by black and brown people in the first place.

This is our responsibility for not getting this done faster, he says.

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that'll be a fun experiment to watch.

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cant disband the police gotta fix the shit out of them

Wouldn't it just be easier to make an announcement that rape and murder is legal?

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sweet. let's hope this goes nationwide. shut down all the assholes and let's rebuild and heal

If they disband, would they hire new ones right away?

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monkmith posted...

that'll be a fun experiment to watch.

you think this is the first time there's been a city without a police department?

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It won't do shit if the union is kept intact as well
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voldothegr8 posted...

It won't do shit if the union is kept intact as well

sadly this. that guy they have now as their rep is a full racist.
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averagejoel posted...

you think this is the first time there's been a city without a police department?

one with 430k population? give me some modern examples.

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Disbanding the police is such a stupid idea

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monkmith posted...

one with 430k population? give me some modern examples.

it's more accurate to say that the modern police force is an experiment

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I said before the only way to even start fixing the police is to fire them all and start fresh. Come up with a police equivalent of the UCMJ and then let them start policing but actually hold them accountable.
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hahaha

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Hypothetically, if someone were to become the warlord of Minneapolis after this, would they send in the national guard? Ive been hoarding a bunch of chrome spray paint and mother's milk.

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What banks will fall?

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minneapolis about to turn Into Arkham City lol

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monkmith posted...

that'll be a fun experiment to watch.

god didn't give us 50 states to not experiment with different forms of policy towards the ends of protecting and serving the populace

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So this is how The Purge becomes real.

https://twitter.com/lisabendermpls/status/1268697508437508098
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The authoritarian right will be sending in agitators if they do this

They'll make sure this doesn't succeed and cause a shift throughout the country

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I'm fine with this idea only if they build a heavily secure perimeter wall around the city. It'll be like Arkham City.

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Just fire any and every cop who has been investigated for excessive force/brutality/any sort of bias. Ban them from ever working in law enforcement.

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Turtlemayor333 posted...

The authoritarian right will be sending in agitators if they do this

They'll make sure this doesn't succeed and cause a shift throughout the country

A possibility, for sure. They will not take the decimation of their ideology lying down.

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Turtlemayor333 posted...

The authoritarian right will be sending in agitators if they do this

They'll make sure this doesn't succeed and cause a shift throughout the country

Stop propagating this lie, most of the looters and rioters arrested are from the same city/state.

i for one see zero potential problems with having no police

Just make it Hamsterdam from The Wire.

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DarthAragorn posted...

i for one see zero potential problems with having no police

I hope they do it. lmfao

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Somehow things get even worse for the poor neighborhoods while the people "who matter" get their private security details. What. A. Plan.

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ThePrinceFish posted...

Somehow things get even worse for the poor neighborhoods while the people "who matter" get their private security details. What. A. Plan.

This is what literally will happen lmao. The nice area will wall themselves off and hire their own police force. The low income areas will just be the Wild West. When the therapists with no weapons or arrest powers respond to a domestic. Or handle a person on PCP with a weapon, common every day calls. Sounds like nobody is actually interested in applying real police reform

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Just destroy police unions and immunity for cops. Maybe then they'll actually try to be the best they can be since all of it can be taken away like that.
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https://youtu.be/wjRG84vW_Zc
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Turtlemayor333 posted...

The authoritarian right will be sending in agitators if they do this

They'll make sure this doesn't succeed and cause a shift throughout the country

Right, because all the gangs in the city aren't praying with all their hearts that this happens.

Gang violence is bad enough as it is, now you want to get rid of the one group that actually keeps them somewhat in check. Brilliant fucking idea.

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Is this idea like "Abolish ICE" where ICE's roles were best served by different groups and organizations or is the idea that the police don't have any roles that are worthwhile?

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PokemonYoutube posted...

So this is how The Purge becomes real.

https://youtu.be/kEIbyuKRXko

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monkmith posted...

that'll be a fun experiment to watch.

I agree.

Disband the police there and maybe things will still work out. I mean that sincerely, too.

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Lorenzo_2003 posted...

I agree.

Disband the police there and maybe things will still work out. I mean that sincerely, too.

People are literally burning buildings and killing store owners that are unrelated to police. While police are there. Now imagine knowing thereS nobody to stop them

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The city would would be divided into territories, and certain people from certain territories wouldnt be able to cross certain other territories. The only justice left would be gang justice, eye for an eye. Society would deteriorate and cities would crumble from within.

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Mark_DeRosa posted...

People are literally burning buildings and killing store owners that are unrelated to police. While police are there. Now imagine knowing thereS nobody to stop them

I mean nobody is stopping them now. Police seem to be prioritizing shooting children and gassing peaceful protests over actually doing anything about the looting.

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Not to mention you people that are in favor of this are crazy. The second something like this passes Trump will send in the military to rule Minneapolis for all time. Its never going to happen.

Either the current police force stays or the military takes over the whole city and the city council will be disbanded. Take your pick.

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Mark_DeRosa posted...

People are literally burning buildings and killing store owners that are unrelated to police. While police are there. Now imagine knowing thereS nobody to stop them

Doesnt matter, the whole system is broken and ACAB apparently. You might as well try something entirely different.

A lot of people are saying they should implement even more strict guidelines and make the police more accountable. That does sound great on paper. In reality, I believe you will end up with recruits who are as violent or more violent than what you have now, in addition to being less intelligent than what youd hope for. Why would any young person, who is of sound mind and body and not power-hungry or prone to hurting people, want to join an organization where everyone is watching your every move and waiting for you to slip, punish you severely for infractions, and expect you to still throw yourself in harms way? Oh, and the pay is just Ok, but without benefits like the military has. Youre going to get the desperate and the violent, which is what we already get now.

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Zikten posted...

sweet. let's hope this goes nationwide. shut down all the assholes and let's rebuild and heal

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If this were to happen all the law abiding citizens that can move will and the ones that can't will unfortunately have to deal with the anarchy that will follow.

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Lorenzo_2003 posted...

Doesnt matter, the whole system is broken and ACAB apparently. You might as well try something entirely different.

A lot of people are saying they should implement even more strict guidelines and make the police more accountable. That does sound great on paper. In reality, I believe you will end up with recruits who are as violent or more violent than what you have now, in addition to being less intelligent than what youd hope for. Why would any young person, who is of sound mind and body and not power-hungry or prone to hurting people, want to join an organization where everyone is watching your every move and waiting for you to slip, punish you severely for infractions, and expect you to still throw yourself in harms way? Oh, and the pay is just Ok, but without benefits like the military has. Youre going to get the desperate and the violent, which is what we already get now.

I think harsher punishments would be a deterrent for people who simply want that sweet power, but don't take the actual duty seriously.

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Gamerguymass posted...

The second something like this passes Trump will send in the military to rule Minneapolis for all time. Its never going to happen.

Trump won't be president by the time something like this gets implemented
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Turtlemayor333 posted...

The authoritarian right will be sending in agitators if they do this

they already have
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People treating this like the apocalypse would do well to read this
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/01/what-happened-to-crime-in-camden/549542/

In 2013, the Camden Police Department was disbanded, reimagined, and born again as the Camden County Police Department, with fewer officers, lower payand a strategic shift toward community policing.
That meant focusing on rebuilding trust between the community and their officers.
For us to make the neighborhood look and feel the way everyone wanted it to, it wasnt going to be achieved by having a police officer with a helmet and a shotgun standing on a corner, Thomson said. Now, he wants his officers to identify more with being in the Peace Corps than being in the Special Forces.
A conversation with Thomson about community policing is likely to involve many such catchy maxims. Destabilized communities, he told me, need guardians, not warriors. He explained the Back to the Future Paradoxuse technology wisely, but pair it with regular-old Bobbies on the street. And he stressed the idea that public safety is about access to social services, economic rejuvenation, and good schools, not just cops: Nothing stops a bullet like a job.

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Intro2Logic posted...

People treating this like the apocalypse would do well to read this
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/01/what-happened-to-crime-in-camden/549542/

@Intro2Logic Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have worked all that well.

https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/nj/camden/crime

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OffTempo posted...

Disbanding the police is such a stupid idea

Why? It would solve all the problems.

Antifar posted...

https://twitter.com/lisabendermpls/status/1268697508437508098

What will be the new model to replace police departments, I want specifics. Police replaced by what?

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