Minneapolis City Council to dismantle police agency
Print Edition
CALLS for deep police reforms gained momentum as leaders in the city where George Floyd died at the hands of police pushed to dismantle the entire department.
Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests demanding a reckoning with institutional racism.
Two weeks after Floyd, an out-of-work black bouncer, died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council vowed to dismantle the 800-member agency.
“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” City Council President Lisa Bender said on Sunday. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
Derek Chauvin, the officer filmed pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck and one of four to be fired from the department in the aftermath of Floyd’s death, was scheduled to make his first court appearance yesterday since the charge against him was upgraded to second-degree murder.
This is not the first time an American city has wrestled with how to deal with a police department accused of being overly aggressive or having bias in its ranks.
In Ferguson, Missouri, where a white officer in 2014 fatally shot Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, then-Attorney General Eric Holder said federal authorities considered dismantling the police department. The city eventually reached an agreement short of that but one that required massive reforms.
The state of Minnesota has launched a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, and the first concrete changes came when the city agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints.
On Sunday, nine of the Minneapolis City Council’s 12 members vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it. Mayor Jacob Frey said he doesn’t support the “full abolition” of the department.
Protesters nationwide are demanding police reforms and calls to “defund the police” have become rallying cries for many. A heavy-handed response to demonstrations in many places has underscored what critics have maintained: Law enforcement is militarized and too often uses excessive force.
Cities imposed curfews as several protests last week were marred by spasms of arson, assaults and smash-and-grab raids on businesses. More than 10,000 people have been arrested around the country since protests began, according to reports tracked by The Associated Press. Videos have surfaced of officers in riot gear using tear gas or physical force against even peaceful demonstrators.
But US protests in recent days have been overwhelmingly peaceful — and over the weekend, several police departments appeared to retreat from aggressive tactics. Several cities have also lifted curfews, including Chicago and New York City.
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