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I know it's really hard to recruit police officers in Minneapolis after everything we have been through. But we also need to address all these costs to the taxpayers for a few bad officers costing the city millions and millions of dollars ("Chauvin brutality payouts approved, apologies offered," April 14).

Recently some Minneapolis City Council members explored proposed changes in state statutes that would enable local municipalities to require personal liability insurance for their sworn police officers.

The city could provide an offset in compensation to cover this expense.

Behaviors would change if an officer knew they would personally face the legal and financial consequences for their actions. The cost to the city and the taxpayers would be less in the long run.

Howard Dotson, Fridley

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"In September 2020, plans to lease a building several blocks away [from the Third Precinct building] were abandoned amid neighborhood opposition" ("Third Precinct sites down to two," March 29).

The city of Minneapolis has resumed planning for a site for the Third Precinct, and it feels like September 2020 all over again. At that time, city officials began a community meeting with a list of criteria for a suitable location. Their presentation was interrupted by attendees calling for accountability and a dismantling of the status quo in policing prior to any consideration of a building.

This week, I attended a public meeting for community members to give feedback on which of the proposed sites is preferred. In a repeat of September 2020, the meeting began with a list of criteria for a location. Once again, the presenters were interrupted by community members expressing their pain and anger that the destruction of the Third Precinct building, which resulted from the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department, is being addressed as a problem about a building.

In 2020 and again at the public meeting, city officials suggested the possibility of a truth and reconciliation commission or TRC, an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government, in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. While a TRC might offer a meaningful path forward, this restorative justice-based process requires trust-building, accountability and transparency. But in fact, it has happened again — the death of Dolal Idd in December 2020. And again — the death of Amir Locke in February 2022.

The article says, "The building ablaze became a symbol of the uprising that followed Floyd's killing — and the boarded-up hulk that remains stands as a constant reminder." But, a reminder of what? For many, the boarded-up building is a constant reminder of the murder of George Floyd, the lack of accountability by the MPD or city, and the need for true reform in how we address community safety so we can be assured a tragedy like this won't happen again.

If the city and the MPD want to engage in truth and reconciliation they must first abandon a process that offers a forced choice between two precinct locations. The only just way to begin is to talk openly about what happened, to take responsibility for present and historic harm caused by the MPD and to ask what is needed for healing and a new model of community care.

Michele Braley, Minneapolis

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On April 13, we learned that Mayor Jacob Frey and the city expect Minneapolis' share of a Gov. Tim Walz proposal for hiring more cops to be $34 million ("Metro leaders want state funds for cops"). And later the same day, in the online story "Minneapolis City Council approves $9 million more in Derek Chauvin brutality settlements," we learn of yet another settlement for police brutality, part of a settlement total far exceeding 34 million. So yes, our city desperately needs state assistance. But can we really afford to hire more cops — inevitably leading to more brutality?

John K. Trepp, Minneapolis

Much has been said about autistic individuals in our community ("Action matters most," Readers Write, April 14, and "Why the governor's proclamation on autism made me wince," Opinion Exchange, April 10). The disorder appears in TV shows and movies. What people don't see are the "invisible" autistics — the adults whose disorder is so severe that it is virtually impossible to be out in public. Our daughter is one of them. At 32 years old, her auditory sensitivity, panic attacks and explosive anger, for starters, force her to be almost homebound. There are very few places she can go and the ambience — from sound coming from a speaker to human noises — has to be strictly controlled.

Some day we will be too old to care for her. Then what? She will need a team of people to support her 24/7 with no exception. With her, and people like her, the issue is not about acceptance, it's literally about survival. Thanks for the continuing awareness.

Fred and Jody Vollbrecht, Glencoe, Minn.

This past week the Minnesota Senate Tax Committee cut the proposed Twin Cities Metro Transit sales tax from 3/4-cent to 1/2-cent. The sales tax should be a full cent, so it was already too small. Here's why.

The DFL has only been able to pass such a tax once in recent memory, when it last controlled the House, the Senate and the governor's office. It punted due to disagreements about who should levy and spend the tax (counties vs. the Metropolitan Council) and competing priorities among DFL core constituencies. So transit lost a decade.

Now we have another chance. We will build out and begin service on Blue and Green Line rail extensions. What funding, though, will be left to complete and operate a full, metro-wide network of highway (HBRT) and arterial (ABRT) bus rapid transit? HBRT and ABRT are the best, cheapest way to provide subregional transit spines. Just ask those who ride the A Line in St. Paul.

One cent was never proposed this session. Gov. Tim Walz proposed 1/8 cent, and the House bill has 3/4 cent. The conference committee should at least restore the 3/4 cent in the final bill.

For those who think that's too expensive, consider the inequity of forcing low- and moderate-income metro households to spend an extra $10,000 per year on a second or third car because transit is not there.

Mathews Hollinshead, St. Paul

The writer is transit representative on the Transportation Advisory Board at the Metropolitan Council.

Regarding "Minneapolis ends limits on Muslim call to prayer" (front page, April 14) and "Call to prayer is a call to inclusion" (editorial, April 13): I think this is a mistake. Most church bells ring a few times on Sunday mornings and only occasionally during the week.

Apparently members of the City Council have never traveled in the Middle East with their hotel next to a mosque only to be woken up in early predawn hours with amplified call to prayer. Realize this would happen every single morning during a workweek.

Would neighbors have any recourse if this becomes unbearable for them?

A previous letter writer ("Skeptical of noise, for any reason") suggested these calls to prayer could be set up to notify them through their phones.

The call to prayer five times a day is fine. It's the amplification that is troublesome. Will there be any regulations as to decibel levels? Many communities do not permit landscape or construction companies to begin before 7 a.m. for this very reason — noise that disturbs others.

Again, it's not the call to prayer, it's the amplification that could be very disruptive to those who might live in the area and choose not to hear it. Do we have a right to silence?

Cathy Stepanek, Minnetrista