About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2020)
NATION The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, December 10, 2020 7A Minneapolis plan to cut police draws residents’ concern JERRY HOLT I Associated Press Alondra Cano, a City Council member, speaks during “The Path Forward” meeting at Powderhorn Park on Sunday, June 7, in Minneapolis. BY AMY FORLITI AND STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS - More than 300 Minneapolis resi dents signed up to speak Wednesday night on a plan to shrink the city’s police department, with some pleading for City Council members to deliver the reforms they promised after George Floyd’s death and others warning it would be irresponsible to cut officers amid soaring crime rates. The council was expected to vote on the plan late Wednesday after several hours of public comment, and 11 of its 13 members have already cast committee votes in favor of key compo nents of it. Supporters call the plan “Safety for All,” the lat est version of the “defund the police” movement that Minneapolis and other cit ies have considered since Floyd’s May 25 death ignited mass demonstrations against police brutality and a nation wide reckoning with racism. The plan would cut nearly $8 million from Mayor Jacob Frey’s $179 million polic ing budget and redirect it to mental health teams, vio lence prevention programs and other initiatives. Frey has threatened to veto the plan, which he says would irresponsibly reduce the authorized size of the force by 138 officers before enact ing alternatives. The council was pre pared to allow speeches of up to a minute for any of the 323 people who signed up, though not all spoke when their names were called. Some in favor of the plan called police officers cow ards, gang members, white supremacists or terrorists. They spoke about violence that African Americans and other minorities have experienced at the hands of police. Those against the plan said the City Council was acting irresponsibly and has bungled its attempts to bring change. They cited increas ing violence, saying they don’t feel safe. “The place I grew up this summer burned,” said Will Roberts, who grew up in the Longfellow neighborhood. “And it burned because of police misconduct.” He called the police depart ment a “violent, occupying source,” saying, “it’s incum bent upon us as residents of this city to change that.” Loraine Teel, of south Minneapolis, said she sup ports the mayor’s position, telling council members: “You cannot achieve reform without a plan that includes the cooperation of those being reformed ... You have failed miserably.” Cities around the U.S., including Los Angeles, New York City and Portland, Oregon, are shifting funds from police departments to social services programs in an effort to provide new solu tions for problems tradition ally handled by police. Such cuts have led some depart ments to lay off officers, cancel recruiting classes or retreat from hiring goals. In Minneapolis, violent crime rates have surged since the death of Floyd, a Black man who was hand cuffed and pleading for air for several minutes while Derek Chauvin, a white for mer officer, pressed his knee against his neck. Chauvin and three others were charged in Floyd’s death and are expected to stand trial in March. Police have recorded 532 gunshot victims this year as of last Thursday, more than double the same period a year ago. Carjack ings have also spiked to 375 so far this year, up 331% from the same period last year. Violent crimes have topped 5,100, compared with just over 4,000 for the same period in 2019. “This summer happened because George Floyd was murdered by the Minneapo lis Police Department and it wasn’t an accident, it’s because the system of polic ing we know now is not just racist, but it doesn’t create safety for all,” said Oluchi Omeoga, a cofounder of Black Visions, which sup ports “Safety for All” as a step toward more transfor mational change. Due to austerity forced by the coronavirus pandemic, the mayor’s proposal already bakes in a $14 million cut to the department compared with its original 2020 bud get, mostly through attrition. Frey aims to hold the num ber of sworn officers around 770 through 2021 with hopes of eventually increasing the force to its current autho rized cap of 888. “Safety for All” would cap the number at 750 by 2022. The depart ment is already down by about 120 — partly due to officers claiming post-trau matic stress disorder from a summer of unrest — with more preparing to leave amid retirements and poor morale. “I think we need to make bold decisions on a path forward,” said Council Member Steve Fletcher, a co-author of the proposal to reduce police staffing. While acknowledging that it would mean fewer officers, he said it would reduce the depart ment’s workload by shifting 911 calls away from armed officers to other special ists such as mental health professionals. “Combined those invest ments add up to a safer city for everybody and an approach that creates a more sustainable pub lic safety system for our city,” Fletcher said in an interview. But Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo who say there’s no need for an either-or decision — that it’s possible to reform policing without cutting officers. 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