56% of the inhabitants of the city voted once morest the modification of the functioning of the police forces, which aimed to strengthen prevention at the expense of security, a year and a half following the murder of the African American by the agent Derek Chauvin and massive anti-racism protests.
Minneapolis residents have rejected the idea of an overhaul of its police force, in turmoil more than a year following the killing of George Floyd by officer Derek Chauvin, which sparked mass protests across the world . After the tragedy in May 2020, many calls for “dismantle the police” had been launched in Minneapolis, criticizing an organization “structurally racist”.
A year and a half later, the voters of this metropolis had to decide on the “replacement of police services by public security services”, putting more emphasis on crime prevention. If the measure had passed, the functions of the police department would have been determined by the mayor in connection with the elected members of the municipal council, and more means would have been granted to the recruitment of psychosocial workers. The current Minneapolis Police Department would have been “replaced” by “a department of public security” responsible for adopting “a comprehensive public health approach”.
In the end, 56% of residents of this large Minnesota city voted once morest. The Democratic mayor of this city of 420,000 inhabitants located in the north of the United States, Jacob Frey, candidate for his own succession was opposed to this reform proposal, and welcomed the result of the vote.
“We need a deep, structural change in policing in America,” Frey told his followers, according to The Washington Post. “At the same time, we need to make sure the police are working directly with the community, to keep us safe,” he specified.
In April, the Justice Department launched an investigation into Minneapolis police to determine whether they consistently use excessive force and whether they “engaged in an unconstitutional or illegal policing pattern or practice.”
The city, saw a noticeable increase in crime last year, with a record number of murders and a 17% increase in violent crime.
