Contract proposal to staff more police in Minneapolis awaits council vote
The Minneapolis police logo on a squad vehicle. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A proposal to give the Minneapolis Police Department $500,000 to staff more officers on the streets through the end of the year is set to go to a final vote at Friday’s City Council meeting, but the hotly debated item could once again come down to a close vote.
“When the first $184 million wasn’t it, then what’s the strategy?” said Councilman Jeremiah Ellison during the Policy and Government Oversight Committee meeting. “What’s the difference here? No strategy. No plan. Shut up and pay us. That’s all I’m hearing on this call.”
Contract proposal to staff more police in Minneapolis awaits council vote
A proposal to give the Minneapolis Police Department $500,000 to staff more officers on the streets through the end of the year is set to go to a final vote at Friday’s City Council meeting, but the hotly debated item could once again come down to a close vote.
The fiery exchange played out at Tuesday’s meeting as Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo pleaded for help amid a rash of crime and violence.
“I have 74 people who are no longer alive in this city because they’ve been killed,” said Arradondo, referencing the year-to-date murder rate. “We can go back and forth on the $185 million, but that is not stopping the blood shed that is occurring in our city.”
Chief Arradondo asked for half a million dollars to bring in extra officers from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and Metro Transit police to close out the year amid a surge in violence.
“We’ve seen over and over again that more police don’t reduce crime. Period. The statistics are there,” said Sheila Nezhad of Reclaim the Block.
With the proposal passing committee by a one-vote margin Tuesday, organizations like Reclaim the Block are hoping to flip at least one council member by Friday when it goes to a final vote.
Nezhad expressed disappointment that council members who previously committed to re-imagining policing are now approving such a measure.
“MPD has had more than 150 years to address problems of crime in the city and they haven’t and so its time to take a different approach to violence prevention,” said Nezhad.
One council member told FOX 9 they’ve received hundreds of emails in the last few days. Samplings of those emails show a divide in the community when it comes to policing.
“In what world do we live in where we give more money to entity that already has proven to be bad at their job?” read one email.
Others wrote in favor of the proposal.
“Conditions are only getting worse… it is a literal war zone here in north Minneapolis,” read another email.
“It’s spread all over the city and I hope the council is getting that message that it’s getting worse, we need intervention,” said Eric Won, who lives in north Minneapolis.
Won moved to the Cleveland neighborhood three years ago after living out of state. He says the gunfire is among the many problems that have been keeping him up at night.
“A half million dollars is very little to ask for to give us a month of good sleep,” he said.