Minneapolis voters decided on Tuesday (2) not to replace their police force with a new department that would seek alternative answers, focused on public health and social assistance, instead of the traditional way of fighting crime.
Nearly a year and a half after the assassination of George Floyd, which elevated the city to the epicenter of the anti-racist movement in the United States, the people of Minneapolis chose to reject the creation of a new Department of Public Safety to replace the current structure.
The consultation with the city took place simultaneously with the municipal election. In addition to choosing mayor and councilors (equivalent to councilors), voters gave their opinion on the proposal related to public safety. Of the 142 thousand votes, 56.1% were against the project, while those in favor totaled 43.8%.
The result does not mean, however, that local police should continue as they were when Floyd was suffocated by a white agent in front of witnesses and the camera that recorded the disastrous approach.
Leili Fatehi, one of the leaders who spearheaded the campaign against the department’s dissolution, said neither side of the vote is satisfied with the current status of policing in Minneapolis — the differences are over how to make the changes.
“What we want to happen next is for residents to unite to hold the next mayor and city council accountable to roll up their sleeves and do this hard work without delay,” Fatehi told Reuters news agency.
On the opposite side, JaNaé Bates, one of the leaders of the “yes” campaign, said that despite the defeat in the vote, the public debate over police conduct changed forever. “The people of Minneapolis deserve to have a law enforcement agency that is accountable and transparent, and that’s not what we have today,” he said, vowing to continue to pressure institutions for change.
A year away from the so-called “midterms” (midterm legislative elections, scheduled for November 2022), the electoral dispute may have influenced the voting result.
The possible dissolution of the police department has divided local Democratic Party politicians. Among them there was a concern that the end of the corporation would fuel the republicans.
Opposed to the measure, for example, Mayor Jacob Frey, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Governor Tim Walz. Also among Democrats, names considered more progressive, such as Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, were in favor of creating a new model.
“If we’re saying that George Floyd could be murdered on the streets of this city and we’re not willing to make any institutional changes to resolve it, to me that’s sad and a little scary,” Ellison said before the vote. The prosecutor, who lives in Minneapolis, was responsible for prosecuting Derek Chauvin, a police officer who choked Floyd with his knee.
If the proposals had received the approval of the majority of the population, a large part of the regulation of the new corporation would only be discussed by the mayor and the municipal council in the coming months. Lack of clarity about how the current department would be replaced was one of the main obstacles to approval.
Another argument raised by critics is that a “yes” to dissolution would materialize one of the slogans of the demonstrations, the “defund the police” (something like cutting police funding). For opponents of the proposal, Minneapolis needs more police, not less.
Those in favor of the change admitted that the number of police officers could end up decreasing, but they defended the thesis that the reform should take place more broadly, one that included ways to address the root causes of crimes before they happen.
The new department would bring to the area of ​​public safety, in addition to police officers, mental health professionals, drug addiction specialists and people trained in conflict resolution.
There would also be a change in the department’s hierarchy, which would now report not only to the mayor but also to the city’s 13 councilors — which, according to advocates, would give the population more influence in decisions on how policing is carried out.
Amid rising crime rates — homicides, robberies and assaults have increased from last year — more than 200 officers have left the corporation since Floyd’s murder, according to a Reuters survey. Some of those who remained have avoided direct involvement with the community, fearing to get involved in other critical cases.
In northern Minneapolis, where the poorest and mostly black section of the population is concentrated, the idea of ​​dismantling was not well received. “The whole thing is a progressive white movement. They are trying to turn us into a great experiment,” said Teto Wilson, a barbershop owner, adding that anyone who lives with daily violence cannot afford to try new drastic approaches.
Angela Harrelson, Floyd’s aunt, wanted the changes passed, not to abolish the police, but to do something different. “If a mental health professional or social worker was with the police the day my nephew died, he might as well be alive today.”
.
