City Council Member Michael Rainville: Why I’m voting yes on the proposed police contract

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On Thursday the Minneapolis City Council will vote up or down on the new Minneapolis police contract. As my colleagues cast their vote I would urge them to think about the next time they or their loved one calls 911 with a life-threatening emergency. In those crucial moments, when seconds matter, will they be relieved that they voted to provide our department with the resources so desperately needed, or will they wish they had voted differently as they wait their place in line?

The problem is simple. We do not have enough officers to cover the city, and we do not grant the police chief enough authority to manage department resources. It’s not a new problem. In 2019 the Minneapolis Police Department had 888 sworn officers. That same year, then-Chief Medaria Arradondo reported that he would require 400 additional police officers by 2025 in order to answer high-priority calls. He cited that in the previous year, on 1,251 occasions his department had no squads available to respond to priority one calls, which include shootings, assaults and overdoses. According to the chief’s request, we’d ideally have about 1,288 officers to patrol the streets of Minneapolis today. Our city charter requires us to have at least 788 officers, a requirement that we as a city have been court-ordered to achieve as soon as humanly possible.

As of last Tuesday my reports show that our Police Department has just 514 officers eligible for duty. That represents a 42% decrease since 2019, a 35% shortfall on our charter minimums, and 60% shortfall from what was requested in 2019. We have been working diligently to fill vacancies, but the reality is that our current compensation and benefits do not come close to offsetting the danger and difficulty of the job.

At one of our five community listening sessions a gentleman reminded us that every Minneapolis police officer walks out of their door in the morning donning a bullet-resistant vest because there is a real possibility that someone might try to take their life that day. Our officers put their life on the line to protect ours. They serve in a Police Department that has been under more scrutiny over the past several years than any other in the country, and maybe the world. They respond to every call knowing that if they don’t perform flawlessly, they may be fired or worse. Though they deserve it, they don’t ask for our thanks. They only ask that we fill the empty spaces to their left and right, and we owe them that.

I know this about our officers because I regularly attend roll call at the First and Second Precincts. I attend because I want to understand what our officers see on a daily basis, and because I want them to know that there are those of us in leadership positions who are with them. I want them to know that the vast majority of Minneapolis appreciates what they do, and the sacrifices they and their loved ones make for us.

The proposed contract was negotiated and agreed upon by both the city and the officers union. Our vote on Thursday is a simple yes or no. I will be voting an emphatic yes because this contract represents a commonsense solution to our problem. It provides the level of pay increase we need to attract new officers, and it affords Chief Brian O’Hara the flexibility he needs to effectively manage his department.

I believe in Minneapolis. I believe that our city can rise from the darkness of the past several years, and emerge better for it, but that will not happen until everyone in our city feels safe. We won’t feel safe or be safe until we address the glaring shortfall in the overstressed ranks of our Minneapolis Police Department.

In the days leading up to our Thursday vote I implore you to contact every City Council member and let them know that you support this new contract, and that you will be watching to see if we want to appear to take action or actually take it.

Michael Rainville is a member of the Minneapolis City Council, representing Ward 3. Other recent opinion coverage of this subject includes “Contract must include permanent, robust reforms,” by Ward 2 City Council Member Robin Wonsley, July 12, and “Again: Pass that police contract,” by the Star Tribune Editorial Board, July 14.