Just checking.

discussion

“Asked whether they would back cuts in funding for police departments, 65 percent of Americans said no. Just 16 percent said yes — a number that held steady across party lines, with Democrats at 16 percent, Republicans at 15 percent and independents at 17 percent. “

But it’s a timely and much-needed reminder that it is WE who pay them to protect US.

Our do you disagree with this notion that police departments in this country have lost the plot?

racist infiltration, and must be cleaned out of that scourge nation wide, along with major reforms and restructuring

And I think a lot of discussion about who is signing their checks is healthy for democracy at the moment.

This problem is many years in the making and will be many years in the solution, and it’s a very brave politician who stands up to the police force. They need all the help we can give them.

disbanding the police is a sound good idea but what happens afterward. Like Trumps call to reopen schools. You have to have a plan. Do the county sheriffs have the personnel to help the city does the state police?

strategies and alternatives to policing for years,” said council president Lisa Bender.

When the BLM idea first arose, it was not widely accepted, especially outside of the AA community. Even HRC did the whole "All Lives Matter" schtick. But now, it's printed on 16th Avenue. Once people begin to understand what the phrase means, it will become more popular.

at the time


https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/yahoo-news-you-gov-poll-most-americans-say-race-was-a-major-factor-in-george-floyds-death-but-opinions-on-protests-are-split-193951336.html

Asked whether they would back cuts in funding for police departments, 65 percent of Americans said no. Just 16 percent said yes — a number that held steady across party lines, with Democrats at 16 percent, Republicans at 15 percent and independents at 17 percent.

Take it up with Gallup.

much of the South, most were on board

When the issues of Vietnam Nam, redlining in the North, and bussing, it became more mixed

Regardless, in my opinion defunding or abolishing police departments is not the same thing, not the least because it means different things to different people, and issues in that realm can be manipulated.

The murder of George Floyd, the racism and police brutality is not a nebulous issue, and the majority are on board against it, and agree it needs major reform and overhauling. However, they are not on board with abolishing or defunding the police departments


https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/yahoo-news-you-gov-poll-most-americans-say-race-was-a-major-factor-in-george-floyds-death-but-opinions-on-protests-are-split-193951336.html

“Asked whether they would back cuts in funding for police departments, 65 percent of Americans said no. Just 16 percent said yes — a number that held steady across party lines, with Democrats at 16 percent, Republicans at 15 percent and independents at 17 percent.”

In commercial enterprises, it's not uncommon for a company to be "disbanded" after it's sold. In such a case, the way it works amounts to everyone being "fired" and then invited to apply for their old jobs. In many or most cases, they're "rehired" to their old jobs but, if they're application for the job doesn't meet the standards of the new owners, they're gone.

I presume this could be applied to police departments too. There would be no problem with the existing union contract since it doesn't survive the "disbanding." So the white-supremacist/racist union boss would have no say in the matter and his white-supremacist/racist sympathizers would be easily weeded out in the "application" process for those cops who re-applied.

people, and that makes it a precarious issue at this time

The majority is definitely on board with the racist injustice going on within police departments, but they aren’t for throwing the baby out with the bath water

But I will make an exception for the Minneapolis PD. The school system doesn’t want them. The university doesn’t want them. The Parks and Recreation Department doesn’t want them. What good are they if nobody wants them?

Get rid of them.

-Laelth

They did it. Now that took some Balls to do it . Now the hard work starts.

Lets see what kind of holistic public safety system they come up with.

starting right this second. That's not how it works.

What kind of "holistic" public safety system are they planning to replace the police with?

members have been busting their asses on.

clean up and reform the police.

over the past two days they provide no safety or protection to the citizens or property. In many cases they were directly responsible for violence and chaos at otherwise peaceful protests. The State's monopoly on violence needs to be managed and not just by those who wield it.
Apparently the city council of Minneapolis doesn't think any of the MPD apples are not rotten. That is an unenviable position to be in. There are certainly some constabulary duties that need to be attended to, but the police in the US have become an occupying force. It will be interesting to see how this works.

Last edited Sun Jun 7, 2020, 06:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Until enough Americans are ready to lend greater importance to human rights, they’ll support the cops we’ve got.

So if you’ve got enough stuff, you need the police.

I would posit that we only need a tiny fraction of the number we have now, and they would mainly provide support for things like traffic accidents.

Think about it. Large police forces NEED high levels of crime to justify their existence. I think you'll see a much more peaceful community once they are gone.

If we get rid of the police, do you think murder and rape and robbery will go away?

do you think murder and rape and robbery will stop?

Not that I’ve eve seen

for a depression not occurring.

Teachers do teach children. So why are there still dumb people??1??1

Do you believe they prevent it?

Do I believe that without any police force violent crime will increase a lot? Yes.

I would like to see a police force that is demilitarized, significantly reduced in number and only responsible for responding to violent crime.

You tell me how you would respond to a rape in progress, an attempted murder in progress, an armed robbery in progress, without any police at all.

So would owning your own set of assault weapons.

I was nearly killed for being gay.

The police did squat about it too.

My home was burglarized and they didn’t do anything to regain my stolen property or catch the perps.

So what have the police eve done for me besides give me speeding tickets?

Jack shit.

When I got hit by a drunk driver, I needed the police.

There are endless reasons someone might need the police.

"Defund the police" would be the worst branding decision ever for the party to make. It would guarantee our loss in November.

which isn't the intent. What they are trying to do is reassign certain community functions to people who are not regular police officers. There will still be officers whose job will be to deal with serious crimes, but with proper training in the use of non-violent arrest techniques wherever possible, de-escalation of violent situations and using equitable, non-racist enforcement processes. Other functions will be spun off to social workers and psychologists who know how to handle problematic behaviors of people who are mentally ill or intoxicated (and not just shoot them or tase them). Most routine traffic enforcement can be handled by other personnel or with cameras. The point is that we don't need heavily-armed, militarized police officers for everything, so they propose to reorganize the department and re-direct funding - not eliminate the entire law enforcement function of the police department.

At least a few posters on this thread have taken the term literally and are rejoicing in it.

Is there really no other way to describe their intent without using extremist rhetoric?

Thankfully Biden isn't that naive and that''s why he's calling for police reform instead.

And the source of the majority of crime. A great day for Minneapolis indeed!

Doesn't sound like a done deal.

the department. They sent a press release out in advance of the meeting to selected media so they could both be there and be on top of the story. It means these councilors have set an official goal to disband department through defunding and will now do the work to make it happen over the next year.

Sounds politically expedient at this point in time.

One wonders if there'll be a follow through.

I'll bet this doesn't happen.

Obviously some sort of police or public safety department is necessary for a community, but how that is developed will be essentially the "proof in the pudding."

but it is the right thing to do. Take what we've learned and create new institutions to fulfill the same role but in better and more progressive ways.

but it's really popular among right-wing militias.

Police reform and community services are what Biden's talking about and that would have wide support.

Doing what is right or doing what plays better in a focus group?

And the average American voter has no interest in eliminating the police.

We can't all afford private security guards, and we don't want to have to own our own arsenals or carry guns in our purses.

At least not seriously. They’re talking about cutting police budgets and restructuring police departments to be community oriented and community focused.


In many municipalities the police budget is half. We need to cut that drastically. And we need to cut our military budget drastically, too.

Allocate that money to infrastructure improvements and social programs.

that doesn't "seriously" mean what it suggests.

(But yes, I've seen people right on DU argue that all the police functions should be divided among other professionals. For example, he said that when women are raped, they should go to mental health counselors, not police.)

Saw what can happen to a city when there are no police. Why will the scene not be repeated eventually?

Of the three groups mentioned, the U of M and Parks and Rec have their own police/security that they are keeping. The school system is looking for an alternate security provider. The change is that if they need additional aid, they will reach out to other police, not MPD.

that Trump wiil hit out of the park and get a second term. Wise up Minneapolis. Not until after November. JEEEZ!
.