It is time for Minneapolis to now get serious about police reforms ("Voters wisely reject public safety turmoil," editorial, Nov. 3). There has been a tremendous amount of discussion in the community about real ideas that could be implemented. I can't speak for the whole community, but here are some ideas that I believe that everyone, on all sides of this issue, can support. The current City Council could start the work on these reforms now. Ideas include:
Readers Write: Policing in Minneapolis
Next, the hard part.
November 3, 2021 at 10:45PM
- Adding mental health, social worker, domestic abuse and homelessness co-responders, funded by Hennepin County.
- Working with the Legislature to eliminate qualified immunity and change disciplinary processes.
- Implementing a medical-type model for the review of use of force, which looks at systemic reasons for the use of force and how to mitigate them.
- Expanding the Office of Violence Prevention.
- Expanding youth and young-adult programs through the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, aimed specifically at high-poverty neighborhoods.
- A team doing "contact tracing" every time there is a murder and providing interventions for those individuals. You are much more likely to die of a homicide if you know someone who was murdered.
- Expanding drug treatment programs funded at federal, state and county levels, including expanding inpatient programs.
- Expanding state and federal employment programs, targeted at high-poverty neighborhoods.
- Adding legal and social services interventions for gang activities.
- Creating business improvement districts in every commercial area in the city to provide "eyes on the street" crime deterrence and hyperlocal crime prevention programs.
- Working with the Legislature to legalize marijuana.
- Expanding mental health programs for police.
- Expanding programming for positive police/community interactions.
- Providing financial incentives for police to live in Minneapolis.
Obviously, much more discussion needs to occur. This City Council could adopt a set of principles and ideas and then fund a robust community engagement process in the 2022 budget so we can come up with a blueprint on how to move forward on reform. Our city depends on it.
Carol Becker, Minneapolis
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To my fellow citizens of Minneapolis who campaigned for Question 2: I know how you feel today ("Police plan fails," front page, Nov. 3). You worked so hard, and now you feel like your guts have been torn out. How could people vote against it? Don't the opponents understand that we need to make changes in public safety? Are people really against reform? My campaign experience spanned almost 40 years on issues and for candidates. The election we lost always felt much worse than the joy of victory, because the heavy mantle falls first upon the winners while the folks on the other side just feel lost and want to walk away.
Don't walk away. There is more than one way to approach changes in public policy. My sense is that most opponents to Question 2 just didn't believe in that approach. Let's get to work on a different approach.
Dan Gunderson, Minneapolis
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It is good news that Question 2 failed because it was not a "plan" but a vague suggestion. In the end, Minneapolis residents realized this and delivered a significant defeat. However, this does not mean that it will be business as usual in the Minneapolis Police Department. The conclusion of this ballot question sets the stage for the next chapter. That is, a fresh look at practices, training and scrutiny by MPD as to how it delivers safety to the public. Chief Medaria Arradondo now has approval to move ahead with important internal policy changes that address public safety concerns.
The killing of George Floyd evoked a sea change with how public safety is delivered. But Question 2 was a gross overreach without specifics. Social workers and mental health professionals will still have a vital role to play. But the work must now begin for MPD to reclaim the streets and neighborhoods of a ravaged city. We shouldn't erase the past, but use it as a springboard for a better future.
Joe Polunc, Waconia
The writer is a retired deputy sheriff.
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So, Mayor Frey, Chief Arradondo, now that you and your supporters have defeated Question 2 by repeatedly asking where the plan is, what is your plan? I don't want to hear about an increased police budget and new officers hastily recruited to meet a quota. That isn't a plan. That is a return to the status quo. Over and over and over again, in this city and throughout the country, we've seen what that gets us. I'm all ears.
Arlo Lyle, Minneapolis
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The increase in crime and gun deaths, the police thugs killing Black people and hunting protesters, the exodus of hundreds of officers, the dangerous streets of downtown Minneapolis — all these things have happened under the regime of Mayor Jacob Frey and Chief Arradondo, a regime that clearly has no ideas or plan to fix them. Yet Minneapolitans voted for no change. No change.
To all those who voted "no" to Question 2: You have lost your right to complain about crime, slow police response times, police misconduct, etc. You voted to keep in place the very systems, policies and people that led you to these problems.
Lynn Maier-Belair, Blaine
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Now, City Council, do what you should have done at the beginning: Talk to people. Get input from all the stakeholders and make a plan to improve public safety.
Ann King, Minneapolis
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The final score Tuesday, in both Virginia and in Minneapolis? Common sense, 1. Nonsense, 0.
Virginia voters, especially angry parents, believed it was common sense that educators should not be teaching their kids critical race theory, teaching their kids that white people are bad and that all white people are racists. And they elected Glenn Youngkin as governor.
Minneapolis voters believed it was common sense not to replace the MPD with a new mumbo jumbo department — a department that would have reported to the mayor and the City Council — especially in light of the surging crime rates. And they voted no.
It is encouraging and refreshing to know that Virginia and Minneapolis voters, both Republican or Democratic, can see through nonsense. And use common sense instead.
Neil F. Anderson, Richfield
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I'm very disappointed that Minneapolis voters rejected the public safety charter amendment. At the same time, this was no win for the Police Department or the status quo.
More than 4 in 10 voters expressed deep dissatisfaction with city police. Their distrust was so deep they voted for a complete overhaul of this core city service, one that included a reduced police force and more human services spending.
We are back to square one. The distrust remains. This issue isn't going away. It's back on the desk of the mayor and City Council.
Scott Russell, Minneapolis
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