The Minneapolis City Council’s attempt to defund or abolish the city’s police department appears to have lost momentum as the highly charged emotion after George Floyd’s death in May gives way to the reality of how important a police department is to public safety, according to the Star Tribune.
In the aftermath of Floyd’s death while being restrained by Minneapolis Police, the city council voted in favor of a commitment to replace the police department with another form of public safety. That effort failed to get on the November ballot, however, mostly due to a lack of detail on what would replace the police.
The obstacles have forced some city council members to face the fact that creating policy around the anti-police movement is more difficult than it may have appeared during the peak of protests and unrest in the city.
As it turns out, while there was significant anger toward Minneapolis police after an officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest, many residents of the city still want armed, trained police officers on call to respond to dangerous situations. Even some who want significant reform of the police department feel the idea of abolishing it altogether is extreme and unhelpful in solving the problem. – READ MORE
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