7/3/2020 10:44:57 AM I am afraid of what will happen when the police are "defunded" or "abolished" (the unclear and inconsistent language around this issue is infuriating and confusing). I am comparing this issue to what happened back in the 60s and 70s when mental health asylums were disbanded and community-based options were supposed to take over (group homes, day treatment, etc). However, even though some funding was funneled to create these community-based options, not enough was funded. So now we are left with a gap of care that has impacted thousands of individuals, people who should be in groups homes or mental health institutions are now on the streets, homeless, addicted to drugs, and struggling to survive. Community-based options do work when implemented correctly. However, we as a country have had a history of really sucking at implementing them. How will Minneapolis know that no MPD is working? How are you going to measure that? How will you ensure that the money that would have went to funding MPD actually makes it to these community-based programs, instead of lining some politician's pocket? Why are we funding personal security for a select few, while debating taking away the security of the general public? And since Hennepin County Sheriff Deputies will be picking up the slack that is created by disbanding MPD, isn't that worse to have people who don't really know or live in the community police it? Why can't we keep the MPD, get rid of the police union, and re-hire and re- train people who are from the communities they would be policing? Don't disband MPD totally, but maybe take away the military equipment, and use that funding for community options? It is not right that tax money is being used for personal security guards. While I don't live in Minneapolis, I work here. I come here regularly to do things (I live in Saint Paul). If this amendment is passed to disband MPD, I'm sorry but I think many people will be making a mass exodus out of this area. If interested in the effect of community-based care: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/74710/E82976.pdf 7/3/2020 10:46:28 AM We don’t want a brutal, unaccountable police department protected in our city charter! Eliminate MPD and create a new civilian-run Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. We don’t want more police in our communities! Remove the Charter requirement for the minimum # of police! We deserve to be a part of the process, and justice cannot wait another year! Letting the people of Minneapolis vote on the charter respects our democratic right to determine the kind of city we want. Ward 6 7/3/2020 10:48:14 AM I read the full proposal for the amendment of the City charter to empower the creation of a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. I support this I proposal with the caveat that public money be wisely redistributed to address the underlying foundations of racism that have created over time and unhealthy culture. My stake is: I am a 24 year MPLS teacher, retired now, grandmother of two biracial kids, blessed with great school opportunities, who wants to see children grow up in a healthy Minneapolis This is my second comment today! Ward 11 7/3/2020 10:49:17 AM Mpd has proven itself to be brutal and unaccountable. Remove MPD and replace it with a civilian run department of community safety and violence prevention. 7/3/2020 10:49:38 AM I am completely opposed to the Proposed Charter amendment related to community safety and violence prevention (CH2020-00014). While I welcome programs to benefit the community and address much needed change, I am wholeheartedly against removing the police department. 7/3/2020 10:51:38 AM I stand in solidarity with Reclaim the Block in their demands. We don’t want a brutal, unaccountable police department protected in our city charter! Eliminate MPD and create a new civilian-run Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. We deserve to be a part of the process, and justice cannot wait another year! Letting the people of Minneapolis vote on the charter respects our democratic right to determine the kind of city we want. Ward 10 7/3/2020 10:52:47 AM This amendment cannot wait another year. There are lives at stake for everyday MPD is allowed to protect their own "bad apples". As stewards of the community you should be aware of the statistics making it clear that police officers are more likely to be domestic abusers, that white supremacists have infiltrated police departments all across the country, officers are untrained in the law, and routinely break the law and their own policies. Reform is not possible when the police break their own rules as they currently stand. Now is the time to fight back. We cannot tolerate an inept and willfully malicious presence in our city any longer. The will of the people is clear. We cannot wait. We will not wait. Every police officer is complicit, the entire system is corrupt. Protect the people and put the amendment on the ballot! Ward 6 7/3/2020 10:53:16 AM We don’t want a brutal, unaccountable police department protected in our city charter! Eliminate MPD and create a new civilian-run Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. Ward 6 7/3/2020 10:54:14 AM Let the people vote on the charter! Its our democratic right to determine the kind of city we want. Ward 8 7/3/2020 10:54:36 AM Hell no! 7/3/2020 10:56:48 AM Hello! Thank you for taking the challenging steps toward defunding and rethinking policing in our city. While I think it's very brave and inspiring of the Council to bring this topic to the national stage and lead a revolutionary movement, these proposed changes are long overdue and justice cannot continue to wait. The community--particularly Black and Indigenous community members--deserve to be a part of the process. Letting the people of Minneapolis vote on the charter respects our democratic right to determine the kind of city we all want. Thank you for your hard work as elected officials in a revolutionary time, and for being accountable to the needs and safety of the community. Ward 4 7/3/2020 11:04:21 AM We recently moved to downtown Minneapolis and have purchased a new condominium. We are extremely concerned about the consequences of eliminating the police force. The people who will be most adversely affected are the poor and vulnerable, those least able to protect themselves. Also, please consider the consequences of losing businesses with headquarters in Minneapolis. How will they recruit and retain their workforce without a basic level of safety and security? The economic consequences will be devastating for the city. Property values will decrease, thereby affecting property taxes. The solution isn’t an all or nothing approach. Rather it requires working with the police union to eliminate the cops who have lost the ability to see humans in each individual they encounter. There should also be a recognition that they are constantly seeing the worst people in our society and additional resources should be available for supporting their physical and mental health. What if we supported our police force instead of vilifying them? 7/3/2020 11:04:42 AM In the hopes of creating real and true public safety for everyone in Minneapolis, I urge you to change the city charter that protects police and eliminate the Minneapolis Police Department. We must listen to the most vulnerable in our communities who ask for support and funding for a civilian run Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. There is ample evidence that policing and the criminal justice system perpetuate systemic racism, let's all work to dismantle this together. Ward 2 7/3/2020 11:06:02 AM We have a duty to protect and serve the interests of all the people in our communities. We have seen time and time again that the police do not follow that same duty. It is time to remove a broken system and replace it with one that serves everyone and truly keeps us safe. We don’t want a brutal, unaccountable police department protected in our city charter! Eliminate MPD and create a new civilian-run Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. •We don’t want more police in our communities! Remove the Charter requirement for the minimum # of police! •We deserve to be a part of the process, and justice cannot wait another year! Letting the people of Minneapolis vote on the charter respects our democratic right to determine the kind of city we want. Ward 4 7/3/2020 11:09:38 AM we can't wait another year! both for ourselves and as an example to the rest of the country. PLEASE put this amendment on the ballot this november. as citizens we deserve the change to shape a more meaningful and just version of community health and safety. Ward 5 7/3/2020 11:09:44 AM We don’t want a brutal, unaccountable police department protected in our city charter. Eliminate MPD and create a new civilian-run Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. We don’t want more police in our communities! Remove the Charter requirement for the minimum # of police! We deserve to be a part of the process, and justice cannot wait another year! Letting the people of Minneapolis vote on the charter respects our democratic right to determine the kind of city we want.