A local activist group gathered enough signatures to trigger a ballot initiative that could clear the way for big changes in the police department. Some procedural hurdles remain.
Police in riot gear walk through a cloud of blue smoke as they advance on protesters in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020, five days after the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
MINNEAPOLIS (CN) — Police abolitionists in Minneapolis may soon succeed in doing what elected officials could not in placing a charter amendment on the ballot that would fundamentally alter the department and could allow for total abolition.
Local election authorities verified Friday that the campaign for the charter amendment, Yes 4 Minneapolis, had acquired 14,101 valid signatures on its petition to put the proposal on ballots in the city’s November elections. They needed 11,906 signatures in favor of the proposal, which would create a new public safety department that would allow for, but not require, the inclusion of police officers.