FILE – In this May 28, 2020 file photo, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks during a news conference in Minneapolis. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP File)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:05 PM PT — Friday, June 26, 2020
The Minneapolis City Council is advancing plans to dismantle the city’s police department amid protests since the death of George Floyd.
#BREAKING: The Minneapolis City Council votes 12-0, approving a radical proposal to change the city charter that would allow the police department to be dismantled, marking the first step in a process that faces significant bureaucratic hurdles to make the November ballot.
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) June 26, 2020
In a unanimous decision Friday, the council passed a proposal to amend the city charter, which would allow the Minneapolis Police Department to be replaced by a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.
According to a draft of this amendment, the agency would focus on a “public health approach” that requires it to be led by someone with “non-law enforcement experience in community safety services.”
Members said they know this proposal is not the change people are asking for, but noted it’s a step in the right direction.
“This is the precondition to the change that people are asking for,” said Steve Fletcher, Minneapolis City Council member. “It’s a way of reducing the barriers that have prevented previous councils and previous mayors and previous community efforts from succeeding in creating the change that we need.”
The process of dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department is expected to face “significant bureaucratic obstacles” before it’s able to make the November ballot.
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