Renee Jones Schneider via Creative Commons
JaNaé Bates speaking at a news conference about Yes 4 Minneapolis.
After George Floyd was murdered by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020, Black Lives Matter protests surged to record numbers across the nation. Activists began calling for the defunding or dismantling of police departments, the Minneapolis Police Department included. But despite these efforts, the city council passed a $6.4 million increase in its 2021 police budget.
Now, the residents of Minneapolis will have the option of voting for a new public safety department on the ballot in its November 2 election.
“It’s time for law enforcement to quit being a catch-base for everything our community and society needs.”
For months, a Black-led, multiracial campaign called Yes 4 Minneapolis has been working to ensure that Minneapolis voters can choose to either maintain their current police department or replace it with a new department of public safety.
Opting for a new department would remove a part of the city’s charter, which was written in 1961. Armed police officers would only be used when necessary, allowing social workers and mental health professionals to take some of the responsibilities that are currently handled by police.
Still, the campaign denounces moderate calls for mere reform, saying in a virtual community information session on October 20 that the “MPD is a poster child for reform, but the problems haven’t changed.”
On the federal level, police abolition efforts have seen little success. Congressional gridlock has prevented representatives from passing legislation such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would end qualified immunity and begin demilitarizing the police, among other measures. The bill narrowly passed in the House before being struck down by the Senate.
Congress’s failure to enact meaningful national police reform has caused many activists to believe that real progress must begin at the grassroots level. In Denver, activists formed the Support Team Assisted Response program (STAR), which enables mental health professionals and paramedics to replace police officers in relevant 911 calls. Since its launch, the team has responded to more than 1,600 calls, all of which resulted in zero arrests or calls for police backup.
STAR has been hailed as a great success, as it has significantly reduced the number of interactions between community members and police officers; it’s now being used as a model for cities across the nation. Representative Cori Bush, Democrat of Missouri, visited Denver to get an inside look at the program, remarking that, “We must make this a reality in every community across the country.”
In Eugene, Oregon, the work to dismantle the city’s police department began more than thirty years ago with a program called CAHOOTS, or Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets. Similar to Denver’s STAR program, CAHOOTS sends non-police responders to the aid of community members experiencing mental health crises, homelessness, and substance abuse.
In 2019, CAHOOTS’ unarmed staffers accounted for 20 percent of the city’s total dispatches. What’s more, the program has garnered the support of its local police chief, who said, “It’s time for law enforcement to quit being a catch-base for everything our community and society needs.”
In Minneapolis, though, there is the sense that the city bears a weight much larger than other municipalities. The global attention Minneapolis has received underscores the importance of its November 2 election.
If the city that garnered international attention for the state-sanctioned murder of George Floyd can begin transforming public safety, then cities around the country may soon follow its lead.