Keep the font as it is or create a new one? Voters in Minneapolis, the capital of Minnesota (northern United States), must answer this question on Tuesday, November 2, in a referendum held at the same time as the municipal election. Voters will have to decide whether they want to see the “Minneapolis Police Department” replaced by a new “Department of Public Safety,” a public safety department under increased oversight by the 13-member city council.
→ REPORTAGE. Minneapolis has not forgotten George Floyd
A year and a half following the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, this overwhelmingly Democratic city is deeply divided over the future of its police force. Minneapolis, a city of 430,000 facing a crime wave, needs more police officers, not fewer, opponents say. For their part, the proponents of a change in structure are betting on a new, comprehensive and preventive approach to security that addresses the root causes of crime.
Generational divide
The divisions extend to the very top of Democratic power in Minnesota. The two state senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, as well as Mayor Jacob Frey, candidate for a new term, oppose the proposal put to referendum. In contrast, Congressional Representative Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a progressive Democrat who oversaw the prosecution of former police officer Derek Chauvin, support the change.
If the project is approved, the new public safety department would focus on a public health response with health professionals, housing and substance abuse experts. The city would continue to employ armed police but without setting a minimum staffing level.
At the end of September, homicides increased by more than 17%, compared to the same period in 2020. More than 200 police officers have resigned since the killing of George Floyd. Within the African-American community, the initiative laid bare a generational divide. Many older leaders, some veterans of the civil rights era, oppose it, while younger activists have become involved in collecting signatures to put the amendment to a vote.
49% of residents in favor
Black officials portray the proposal as coming from well-meaning progressive whites but whose opinions are shaped by the relatively safe neighborhoods where they live. About 60% of Minneapolis residents are white, compared to regarding 19% of blacks. Nearly half of the killings took place in “Precinct 4,” a borough north of the city, where residents complain of nights filled with shootings, carjackings and out-of-control petty crime.
→ REREAD. For Derek Chauvin, a sentence that looks like a first step
A poll conducted in September by the daily Star Tribune, 49% of residents are in favor of the proposed measure, while 41% oppose it. According to the same poll, while most residents want police reform, 55% remain opposed to reducing the number of law enforcement officers, a figure that even reaches 75% among the black electorate.