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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Nationwide Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Greater than 17 months after the homicide of George Floyd by Police Officer Derek Chauvin, Minneapolis residents are headed to the polls to attempt a special type of policing.

Voters will go to the polls on November 2 to forged ballots on an initiative to exchange the Minneapolis Police Division with a Division of Public Security.

The measure would amend the town’s constitution, eradicate the police division, and put into place an company that would supply a complete public well being strategy to public security.

The mayor and Metropolis Council would decide a commissioner and set up protocols for the division.

Essentially the most outstanding supporter of the measure are teams like Sure four Minneapolis, a coalition of greater than 100 organizations and companies together with the ACLU of Minnesota, Take Motion MN, Displaying Up For Racial Justice, and Reclaim The Block.

The organizations mentioned public security would enhance by together with regulation enforcement officers and psychological well being and substance abuse consultants who would be part of cops on calls the place wanted.

The division would additionally make use of violence interrupters rather than cops who normally deal with doubtlessly violent conditions.

Organizers for Sure four Minneapolis have mentioned the general objective is to scale back cops’ position in calls involving homeless people, psychological well being points, and substance abuse.

“This modification would create a Division of Public Security combining public security capabilities by means of a complete public well being strategy to be decided by the Mayor and Council,” JaNaé Bates, a spokeswoman for Sure four Minneapolis, wrote in an announcement.

“The division can be led by a commissioner nominated by the mayor and appointed by the Council. The Police Division, and its chief, can be faraway from the Metropolis Constitution. The Public Security Division may embody cops, however the minimal funding requirement can be eradicated.”

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and Legal professional Basic Keith Ellison, who efficiently prosecuted Chauvin, have expressed assist for the poll measure.

Nonetheless, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Tim Walz, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, all Democrats, have publicly opposed the measure.

Ellison advised NBC Information that the established order in Minneapolis “is dangerous and problematic.”

“Do you wish to let go of what isn’t nice, however it? Or attain for one thing that’s unsure as a result of it’s sooner or later, and we haven’t carried out it but? I’m saying: Let’s have some hope that we are able to determine this out collectively as a neighborhood. Let’s attempt one thing totally different,” Ellison acknowledged.

The Legal professional Basic pointed to police departments like Newark and Camden, New Jersey, which achieved comparable modifications to nice success.

In his commentary, Ellison famous how the police division in Camden, the place greater than 90 p.c of residents are Black or Hispanic, was disbanded in 2013 and rebuilt regardless of opposition from police unions and a few residents.

“These communities have mentioned, ‘You realize what, let’s reform,’” Ellison advised the community. “However the factor about Newark is, Newark did its modifications underneath a federal consent decree. So, I’m saying to the individuals of Minneapolis, let’s not have the federal authorities make us reform. Let’s simply select it.”

The report famous that, in 2014, the Justice Division reached an settlement with Newark, the state’s largest metropolis, to permit a federal monitor to look at over a police pressure that it discovered had repeatedly violated the rights of its residents, particularly Black individuals, who account for a majority of the inhabitants.

NBC Information reported that Newark cops didn’t hearth a single shot in 2020 or subject any payouts to settle police brutality settlements. The homicide charge has additionally dropped in Newark in recent times.

“The objective is to make long-term insurance policies to replicate our values of security, humanity, and dignity, not particular person personalities or individuals,” Sure four Minneapolis officers wrote in a truth sheet.

“By voting Sure, you’re voting for a funded, accountable, and expanded Division of Public Security. This implies police are working with certified professionals, like psychological well being responders and social employees, to make all our communities safer.”