Created: December 15, 2020 04:50 PM
Two weeks after the death of George Floyd, Minneapolis city council members Steve Fletcher and Phillipe Cunningham gathered with seven of their colleagues in a crowded Powderhorn Park.
The group took the stage and pledged to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department, while standing behind a banner that read Defund Police.
Their pledge led to a contentious budget battle last week that ultimately ended with millions of dollars of police funding being diverted into mental health response and other intervention strategies.
Sitting six feet apart in the empty city council chamber earlier this week, both Fletcher and Cunningham talked about the city s recently approved budget, the role of the police chief in their vision for the department and why their ultimate goal does not mean actually defunding police.
Minneapolis city council defunds $8M from police gopusa.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gopusa.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Minneapolis budget passes with police funding cut, but keeps larger staffing level target
By FOX 9 Staff
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis City Council passed a 2021 budget early Thursday morning that shifts nearly $8 million from the city’s police department to fund alternative public safety strategies, but allows room for future police recruitment.
A key moment came when the council voted 7-6 to pass a motion regarding police staffing. Through the Safety for All plan, the sworn officer capacity would have been reduced to 750 in 2022 and beyond – a decrease that Mayor Jacob Frey had threatened to veto the budget over. The approved motion removed that language and instead increased the vacant sworn positions to 140, which allows room for recruitment. It’s important to note this does not impact staffing level for 2021.
Divided Minneapolis City Council cuts police budget but keeps mayor s target to hire more officers later mdjonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mdjonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday approved shifting nearly $8 million away from the city's police department, but declined to reduce the size of the force, in its first budget since the death of George Floyd.