The decision for police division overhaul got here after the homicide of Black man George Floyd final 12 months sparked racial justice protests.
Voters in Minneapolis, the place the homicide of George Floyd final 12 months sparked the biggest wave of protests in opposition to racial injustice in generations, have rejected a poll initiative that sought to overtake policing within the metropolis.
The initiative would have changed the police drive with a Division of Public Security charged with endeavor “a complete public well being” strategy to policing.
Greater than 56 p.c voted in opposition to amending the Minneapolis Metropolis Constitution to create the brand new division, in line with official election outcomes on Tuesday.
Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey, operating for a second time period, was a troublesome second spherical after main Tuesday’s vote with some 43 p.c of the vote, however failing to safe greater than 50 p.c to win right away.
Frey had opposed the police reform and he welcomed the end result.
“We’d like deep, structural change to policing in America,” Frey instructed supporters, in line with The Washington Publish.
“On the identical time, we’d like cops to ensure that they’re working straight with the neighborhood to maintain us protected.”
Different opponents of the thought have mentioned the poll proposal comprises no concrete plan for the way the brand new division would function and expressed worry that it’d make communities already affected by gun violence much more weak to rising crime.
‘Defund the police’
The Might 2020 homicide of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for greater than 9 minutes, sparked protests in opposition to police brutality in Minneapolis and different US cities and calls in some progressive Democratic quarters to “defund the police“.
The previous police officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of homicide and manslaughter for Floyd’s loss of life and sentenced to 22 and a half years in jail.
If the Minneapolis poll measure had handed, the features of the Division of Public Security can be decided by the mayor and the town council and there can be a higher emphasis on hiring psychological well being specialists and social staff.
The brand new division might have included “licensed peace officers [police officers], if mandatory, to satisfy its tasks for public security”, in line with the poll measure.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which had campaigned in favour of disbanding the Minneapolis police drive, thanked activists and supporters and mentioned that change was nonetheless attainable.
“Throughout the nation, we see the momentum to considerably scale back the extreme sources and tasks given to legislation enforcement and reinvest in communities they’ve harmed,” the group mentioned.
“The ACLU is dedicated to persevering with to help the Black and Brown grassroots teams spearheading this work.”
The US Justice Division introduced in April following Chauvin’s conviction that it was conducting an investigation to find out whether or not the Minneapolis Police Division systematically makes use of extreme drive and “engages in a sample or follow of unconstitutional or illegal policing”.
The killing of Floyd and different Black Individuals in 2020 prompted a patchwork of police reforms throughout the US, the place legislation enforcement is often regulated on the state and native ranges.