Mpls park board votes to undo MPD ban at city events

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - After cutting ties with the Minneapolis Police Department two years ago, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board of Commissioners has reversed its decision.

On Wednesday the board committee voted 5-3-1 to repeal a resolution that severed ties with city officers following the murder of George Floyd. Committee members moved to repeal, after discovering that the move threatened to cancel several large events due to baseline security requirements.

The original vote banned park police from assisting MPD in non-violent calls, but also banned MPD from providing security for events like the Twin Cities Marathon and Pride Festival.

Now, with the governor’s emergency order lifted and events back to full capacity, parks and rec staff say they are getting requests for events they simply cannot host because city code requires a certain number of police based on crowd size.

"I’m not sure I regret it, but at the same time it is something we have to reflect and find out, 'did it accomplish what we really wanted it to accomplish,’" Park Board President Meg Forney said at a meeting last week. "And it didn’t."

However, not everyone is in agreement, with three votes against the reinstatement.

"Do more police at our events make them safer? Two weeks ago I thought it was," MPRB District 1 Commissioner Billy Menz said prior to the vote. Menz criticized MPD expressing concern over a recently released report regarding the culture and practices of the department. "I am voting now right now in light of the report that we knew was going to come with some difficult realities. It is scathing and it is scary that that culture has existed for so long. I personally think that the way we impact policing is by forcing our staff to figure out a different way. If we have to cancel events, there might be events canceled temporarily."

"I’ll be voting ‘no’ – I can’t endorse working with this racist police department," MPRB Commisioner At Large Tom Olson said.

In a statement to FOX 9, Mayor Jacob Frey said: "We now know what we knew then, the Park Police and MPD have to work together to keep people and our parks safe. I'm glad the Park Board is acknowledging this reality and I look forward to our continued work together."

"This is really only for the largest events, and bringing them back would be so important for the community," Steffanie Musich, MPRB District 5 Commisioner said. "I know this isn’t popular, and the report was horrible, but it’s not every individual member of the police force that have those behaviors."