Minneapolis City Council Vows To Dismantle Police Department
The Minneapolis City Council voted on Sunday (June 7) to dismantle the city’s police department after concluding that more attempts to reform the force would not work.
Nine of the 13 council members voted in favor of the decision, which constitutes a veto-proof majority, Council President Lisa Bender told CNN. The plan involves defunding a police department that had a history of racism long before the killing of George Floyd.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was booed at a rally on Saturday (June 6) after he refused to commit to defunding the troubled police department.
The pledge “signals a strong and clear direction about where this is going,” Councilwoman Alondra Cano, the chair of the council’s Public Safety Committee, stated.
In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, other cities are contemplating defunding their police department. The move would involve redistributing some of those funds to community investment programs.
