Minneapolis City Council Promises to Dismantle Police Department

The Minneapolis City Council has said they will disband the city’s police department in response to the death of George Floyd and widespread calls for major reforms to criminal justice. The issue of defunding police has become a flash point for the protests.

Lawmakers at a community rally on Sunday, featuring a veto-proof majority of council members, pledged to take the radical step and abolish the police department. They say they will create an alternative model of community safety. Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender explained why.

“In Minneapolis and in cities across the US, it is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” Bender said.

“Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period. Our commitment is to do what’s necessary to keep every single member of our community safe and to tell the truth: that the Minneapolis police are not doing that.”

“Our commitment is to end policing as we know it and to recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe.”

Nine of the 12 council members have now committed to abolishing the police department, meaning the city’s mayor cannot override them. Conservatives will likely react with fury to the decision.