By Janelle Griffith -
NBC News
MINNEAPOLIS - Three weeks before Municipal Election Day, Candis McKelvy attended a debate on a ballot initiative to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety.
He listened carefully for 90 minutes to a representative from Yes 4 Minneapolis, the coalition that requested the inclusion of the issue on the ballot, and another from All of Mpls, who opposes the measure, who tried to attract residents to their respective sides. .
At the end of the night, McKelvy was left in the middle.
"I'm on both sides," said McKelvy, a North Minneapolis resident in her 60s who was among the roughly 250 people at North High School where the debate was held.
[This cop shot a woman who called 911 for help. Justice has lowered his sentence and the family has forgiven him]
He agrees with the proposition that the city's police department is broken and desperately in need of an overhaul.
But he fears its renovation will mean the loss of the city's popular black police chief.
“I need one more piece of information.
If I vote no, will things remain the same? ”He asked after leaving the debate.
That question is on the minds of many Minneapolis residents as they grapple with how to vote Nov. 2 in one of the first major tests of the national police reform movement since George Floyd's death at the hands of a police officer last year.
The measure before you, Question Two, would modify city statutes to ditch the police department and replace it with an agency that offers a “comprehensive public health approach” to public safety.
The details of that department, including who would be its commissioner, would be decided later by the mayor and the Municipal Council.
Supporters of the proposal say public safety will be strengthened to include not only police officers, but also mental health and substance abuse experts, those charged with curbing violence, and others better prepared to handle situations. commonly faced by armed police officers.
[A passenger on the New York subway asked some policemen to wear a mask and this is what happened]
The goal is to reduce the role of the police in calls related to homelessness, mental health issues and substance abuse, according to JaNaé Bates, spokesperson for Yes 4 Minneapolis.
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But opponents have taken advantage of the vague wording and the novelty of the ballot initiative to encourage residents to vote against it, suggesting that it would effectively “defund” the police and not address the violence in the city.
"It raises more questions than answers," said the Rev. Jerry McAfee, pastor of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, who represented All of Mpls in the debate.
[A police officer “tragically” kills an innocent Latino in a shooting in California to arrest a fugitive suspect]
The proposal has divided the community, including those who had previously lined up to call for changes in policing after Floyd was assassinated by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020.
It has also divided some of the top Democrats in the state.
Representative Ilhan Omar and Attorney General Keith Ellison, for example, support the plan, while Senator Amy Klobuchar, Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who is running for a second term, oppose it.
"Let's try something different"
Protesters began pressuring Minneapolis to review its police department last year, shortly after Floyd's death triggered a settling of scores against police brutality and racial injustice.
The petition garnered initial support from the majority of the Municipal Council, which had already called for reform.
Councilman Steve Fletcher noted that Floyd's death "really sped up the conversation."
Yes 4 Minneapolis, a coalition of more than 100 businesses and organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, reported that it had gathered more than 20,000 signatures to get the measure included in the vote.
[Federal charges will not be filed against the cop who shot Jacob Blake seven times]
The council, which would gain greater control over law enforcement and public safety if the measure passes, approved the voting language in July, and after it was challenged, the state Supreme Court last month cleared the path for voters to consider.
Minneapolis is one of the municipalities that are considering or trying to reform their police department, as a result of requests for “defunding” from the police following Floyd's death.
Demonstrators raise their hands to the order of the police as they are detained before being arrested and processed at a gas station on South Washington Street in Minneapolis, on May 31, 2020.John Minchillo / AP
The ballot measure says the new department "could include" police officers "if necessary."
It does not include the word "defund," but critics say the measure is intentionally vague to hide its goal of doing so.
"I have challenged everyone to get over the word," declared Fletcher.
“Choose the word you want.
Reimagine, transform, defund, dissolve, restructure, reinvest, whatever suits you ... and focus on what I would do and what we really have to change together, "he added.
A recent poll of 800 likely voters revealed that 49% of those polled supported replacing the police department and granting the City Council more authority over public safety.
41% opposed and 10% undecided, according to a poll conducted by KARE 11, an affiliate of our sister network NBC News, The Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio and the PBS program Frontline.
[The young man arrested for the deadly shooting of Kenosha praised the use of weapons, the police and Trump on social networks]
The city is grappling with "a poorly known status quo" that almost everyone agrees is problematic, said Ellison, who lives in Minneapolis and whose office won a murder conviction against Chauvin.
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For Ellison, residents will have to ask themselves, “Do you want to let go of what you know is not good, but you know it?
Or achieve something that is uncertain because it is in the future, and we have not done it yet?
Let's have a little hope that we can work this out together as a community.
Let's try something different, ”he asked.
Councilman Cam Gordon, who represents East Minneapolis, said the biggest issue the measure would address, if passed, is the oversight of the police department and who determines police policy.
"Right now, it is the only department in the city that gives exclusive authority to the mayor for policy making," he recalled.
Supporters of the measure have singled out police departments in two New Jersey cities - Camden and Newark - as role models for reform.
[Jacob Blake's family asks Trump for a "reunification message." President speaks of "internal terrorism" in Kenosha]
The Camden Police Department, where more than 90% of residents are Black or Hispanic, was dissolved in 2013 and later rebuilt despite opposition from police unions and some residents.
“Those communities have said, 'You know what, we're going to reform,” Ellison said.
“But the thing about Newark is that it made its changes under a federal consent decree.
To the people of Minneapolis, I say: let's not let the federal government force us to reform.
We just choose ”.
In 2014, the Department of Justice reached an agreement with Newark, the largest city in the state, to allow a federal monitor to monitor a police force that it believed had repeatedly violated the rights of its citizens, especially those of the state. black people, who are the majority of the population.
Newark cops did not fire a single shot in 2020 or issue any payments to settle the police brutality deals, The Star-Ledger reported in January.
The murder rate has also dropped in Newark in recent years.
"I don't want to be another test case"
Critics of the Minneapolis measure, however, noted that it has too many unknowns.
"We don't know what will happen," McAfee said during the debate.
“We can't even really answer the questions, because I don't know where it has been done previously.
And I don't want to be another test case, ”he added.
[Former cop Derek Chauvin is found guilty of all charges in the death of George Floyd]
Minneapolis is the only city in Minnesota that is required by statute to have a minimum number of officers, a requirement from the civil rights era, said Council Member Phillipe Cunningham, who represents the northernmost part of Minneapolis and supports the measure.
Passing would not "abolish" the police or cause any officers to be fired, as critics have claimed, according to Bates.
Still, the prospect that the replacement of the police department will jeopardize the position of Police Chief Medaria Arradondo has become a deciding factor for many voters.
Arradondo, a Minneapolis native who fired Chauvin and testified against him at his trial for the Floyd murder, is widely popular.
Protesters prepare to march alongside the Hennepin County Government Center after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd, Friday, June 25, 2021, in downtown Minneapolis. Christian Monterrosa / AP
Cunningham said All of Mpls has framed the ballot measure around Arradondo to capitalize on his popularity.
"This constant mention of the boss is intended to be a distraction because we shouldn't be talking about a man when we're talking about systemic failure," Cunningham said.
["There was accountability, not justice": reactions to the verdict against Chauvin]
“One question that needs to be answered is: is the boss going to renew his contract?
We already know that he applied to other jobs this year because he was a finalist in San José for his position as chief of police before that was made public and then he withdrew his name, "he said.
Arradondo, who has been in the department for more than 30 years, has criticized the proposed amendment and said that the appointment of a new public security commissioner reporting to the mayor and the City Council "would be a totally unbearable position for any leader of the forces. of order or chief of police ".
“If all of this depends on a particular mayor or chief, or council members in particular, then we are failing to think about the structure of our government because it has to be a structure that can last for many, many mayors, and many, many bosses and many, many tips in a way that produces better results, ”said Fletcher.
A divided community
When All of Mpls pollsters arrived at Yasmin Abdi's home this month, she informed them that she would vote against the measure.
He said he is fine with adding social workers and mental health experts to the ranks of the city's public safety, but that he continues to want the police department to have a significant presence.
"If they want to work alongside the police, they can do it," said Abdi, 28.
"Because things could quickly get violent," he added.
[Derek Chauvin's supervisor said the ex-cop shouldn't have kept his knee on Floyd's neck]
Residents like Abdi said they fear that if the amendment passes, the police will be taken away while violent crime is a problem and the police department is grappling with morale and personnel issues.
So far this year there have been at least 78 homicides, according to the police department's crime statistics dashboard.
Last year, Minneapolis had 83 homicides, according to the police department, the second highest year on record in decades.
McAfee said groups like 21 Days of Peace, an organization he founded in May that works with law enforcement to reduce crime in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, is better suited to help reform.
Jackie Martin, 52, of North Minneapolis who went door-to-door campaigning for All of Mpls, said she does not believe that mental health experts or social workers should respond to calls without being accompanied by armed agents.
"Our neighborhood is not cut out for that," said Martin, a personal assistant.
But residents like Adriana Surmak, 30, who said she will vote yes on Question 2, said the police department is not functional in its current configuration.
"You are not adding a layer of security to the city that somehow compensates for the damage it does to communities," he said.