In Minneapolis, the African American George Floyd died in a brutal police operation. The city council of the US metropolis then considered its own police department to be no longer reformable and voted to abolish it. Since then, an alternative has been sought.
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On Friday, the councils unanimously decided to replace the local police with a new, municipal security structure. In a “long-term process”, the city should create a “new model for security”, the decision said.
During mass protests against racist violence, protesters in Minneapolis and other US cities had previously called for reforms by the security authorities. Nationwide protests began about three weeks ago after Floyd’s death. A white police officer had kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes. Floyd had repeatedly complained that he was out of breath.
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The murder of George Floyd shows that fatal police violence and abuse of office by some officials, especially against blacks, could be “no reform prevented,” the order said. A few days earlier, the city council had already decided to completely dissolve the police department and replace it with a new structure for police work.
“Together we will find out what security looks like for each of us,” the decision continued. Representatives of various groups should now come to an agreement, both from civil rights organizations and from emergency services and municipal authorities.
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In order to bring about long-term change, one wants to involve the population in this process, said the city council chairwoman Lisa Bender. The voices of those most affected by police violence should be the focus.
The city council also wants the residents of Minneapolis to vote on the plan in the presidential election on November 3rd. The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, rejects a complete dissolution of the police department.
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