9:00 a.m., November 1, 2021
Keep the police the way they are? That of Derek Chauvin, the murderer of George Floyd? Or on the contrary to create a new one? This will be the question of the referendum to which the inhabitants of the capital of Minnesota are invited this Tuesday on the occasion of the municipal election. Voters will have to decide whether they want to see their future police placed under the tutelage of a brand new Public Safety Department, a “public safety system” that would escape the sole power of the city’s mayor.
A new administration, “a first step” according to Yes 4 Minneapolis
At the origin of this addition on the ballot, the Defund the Police movement, which emerged just after the death of George Floyd, succumbing to the knees of the police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020, which unleashed an explosion of incidents and protests across the country and around the world. Today, the city remains white-hot. Its police, known for their extreme brutality, are accused of systemic racism.
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Among those supporting this initiative is the Yes 4 Minneapolis group, which sees an opportunity to build a new administration that activists and community members could improve over time. “It would be a first step”, explains JaNaé Bates, who is an activist within Yes 4 Minneapolis. Robin Wonsley Worlobah, 29, the first black candidate on a socialist municipal ticket, adds: “With this referendum, we have the opportunity to accelerate measures that could reverse years of trauma.”
55% of residents opposed to the reduction of the police force
A final poll conducted in September by the state’s main daily, the Star Tribune, confirms that 49% of voters are in favor of a new police model while 41% are against it. A result that Yes 4 Minneapolis immediately commented on in a tweet. “The people of Minneapolis are ready for a change in the way we guarantee collective security.”
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I don’t think that will change the problem in any way. It would only be a distraction. I am very afraid that this new entity will become the same thing but under a different name
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One cannot suspect Michelle Gross, this activist for more than thirty years, of wanting to leave things as they are. However, the president of the non-governmental organization Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) is puzzled by this demand for a change in structure. “I understand that people are frustrated,” she says. would be just a distraction. I’m afraid this new entity will become the same thing but under a different name. ”
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Bill Rodriguez, who is the head of a Facebook group “Operation Safety Now” set up in October 2020, is indignant on his page that this referendum has only one goal, “quite simply to get rid of the police” . Nevertheless, still according to the survey of Star Tribune, if most of the inhabitants do indeed want a reform of the police force, 55% remain opposed to the reduction in the strength of the police force, a figure which even reaches 75% within the black electorate.
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