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Almost half a year after Minneapolis City Council members made headlines across the country for a vow to dismantle policing in the city as we know it, what has been done and where are council members aiming to go? https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/10/28/after-pledging-to-defund-police-mpls-city-council-still-rethinking-public-safety
In the months since, members of the public have expressed confusion about the council's goals and powers. National media have picked up on it, either characterizing Minneapolis as already abolishing its police department or reporting that the reform efforts are dead. (2)
I was confused too. So I sent every City Council member a short survey. I asked yes or no questions about abolishing police, diverting resources, shifting responsibilities. Our graphics magician @ChoiGEE1 made a simple graphic with popups for more info (3) https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/10/25/read-the-minneapolis-city-councils-survey-responses-on-rethinking-mpd
On "abolish:" Some members quibbled with definition, but NONE answered directly that they want to abolish MPD. Most along lines of creating new dept, like @MplsWard4: "I support building a new comprehensive system of public safety that includes law enforcement to replace" MPD.
There was some surprising common ground. All council members support moving some of MPD's responsibility to other departments. Also lots of support to reallocate SOME of MPD's budget to other public safety, as well as need for licensed cops to respond to violent incidents. (5)
Some think council got over its skis in making statement in Powderhorn Park without a plan. They're unpopular according to survey we took in Aug. But council members since almost start have emphasized that it's going to be a long process and it has to involved public input. (6)
Council did push charter change right away, which was temporarily blocked by Charter Commission. But there are multiple ways it could come up in 2021. In the meantime, council has outlined process for getting public input & formalizing plan that stretches into next summer. (7)
To be clear, @MayorFrey opposes the charter changes (creates public safety department with council oversight etc), saying it would decreased transparency and accountability in public safety. (8)
Backdrop is a spike in violent crime that's making some Minneapolis residents feel abandoned by council and/or MPD. Number of cops has shrunk but MPD says the same numbers are on the street. Some council members argue that it's a work slowdown by MPD for political reasons. (9)
There is not unanimous consensus on the council. Some members are skeptical of most of the efforts, and of the activist rhetoric (cutting $45 million from MPD budget). But even they are in favor of shifting responsibilities to be more effective or lift burdens on officers. (10)
Following lots of national reporting, the most interesting answer by council members was that they didn't think their positions had really changed much since June, contrary to the narrative that they have failed on police reform efforts. Results may (or may not) come later. (11)
Was the rhetoric used early on confusing to public? @jeremyschroeder: "Rhetoric and misinformation about what ‘defunding’ means has contributed to distrust and friction in our community." @jeremiah4north said 1-on-1 conversations are way to get past opposition efforts.
Council President @lisabendermpls told me last night that some of the confusion is because Powderhorn Park made headlines all over the world. But council is going through the slower democratic process: “This is the more boring work of making change through a system."
Here's a link to the article by @BrandtMPR and I that goes in depth through what happened, the current context and the process (link to the standalone survey we did with @ChoiGEE1 in the story or slides embedded throughout). https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/10/28/after-pledging-to-defund-police-mpls-city-council-still-rethinking-public-safety
