A year and a half after the death of Georges Floyd, the inhabitants of Minneapolis must vote, this Tuesday, on a project of radical overhaul of the police force of this city in the north of the United States.
Voters in this metropolis in the state of Minnesota at the heart of the major anti-racist protests of the summer of 2020 will have to say whether they want to “replace police services with public safety services”, with more emphasis on prevention of crime.
Supervision of the shared service
The outcome of the election, which promises to be tight, will reflect the popularity of calls to reform the police in the United States which, in a context of a general increase in homicides (+ 30% in 2020), have become less audible. The reform aims to give a “public health approach” to this new service, which would call on social workers and medical personnel to resolve certain situations in the field (people in a state of intoxication, psychiatric disorders, etc.).
If it is adopted, the mayor will have to share the supervision of this new service with his municipal council, while he is alone in charge today. In addition, the city will no longer be obliged to devote a minimum budget to the police and to employ a minimum number of agents. Today, Minneapolis is supposed to have 1.7 police officers per 1,000 people, or 730 officers, but it lacks about 100 people.
“Laxity”
After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the city council of the metropolis, firmly anchored to the left, had announced that it wanted to “dismantle” its police. More generally, calls to “cut the funds” of the police had emerged throughout the United States. In the midst of the 2020 presidential campaign, and against a backdrop of rising homicides, the Republicans accused the Democrats of “laxity” and these messages had been muted.
The Minneapolis police overhaul project, which should have been put to a vote a year ago, had also been put on hold. A petition signed by more than 20,000 people brought it back to the fore this year. Under the banner of a coalition called “Yes 4 Minneapolis”, several organizations, including the powerful ACLU, support the initiative, which also received the blessing of the elected Ilhan Omar, figure of the Democratic left wing, including the constituency partly covers the city.
Divided residents
Conversely, the mayor of the city Jacob Frey, whose mandate is also at stake on Tuesday, the governor Tim Walz or the senator Amy Klobuchar, all Democrats, criticized a project considered too vague and risky.
According to a poll conducted by local media, 49% of Minneapolis residents are for reform and 41% against, but the report is reversed in the black population particularly affected by the rise in homicides, which only supports it at 42 %, with 47% opponents. Across the country, residents of Austin, Texas, will vote on Tuesday to increase the number of police forces.