Minneapolis chief urges voters to reject replacing PD
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo is urging voters to reject a ballot question that would replace the city’s police department
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo on Wednesday urged voters to reject a ballot question that would replace the city's police department, saying it would do nothing to address the issues laid bare with the death last year of George Floyd
Voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve a new public safety unit that would take “a more comprehensive public health approach” to policing. The ballot question would also drop a required minimum number of police officers and give City Council members more oversight of police.
Opponents have said the proposal is vague, with no specific plan for the replacement, and Arradondo took up the theme in his remarks.
“To vote on a measure of reimagining public safety without a solid plan and an implementation or direction of work — this is too critical of a time to wish and hope for that help that we need so desperately right now,” he told reporters. “I was not expecting some sort of robust, detailed word-for-word plan, but at this point, quite frankly, I would take a drawing on a napkin and I have not seen either.”
Arradondo, usually a reserved and deferential chief, was animated and smacked the lectern at one point in his remarks. He described the city as “flatlining," citing the department's deficit of nearly 300 officers, or about one-third of its authorized 888 sworn officers — with much of the attrition due to retirements, resignations and disability leaves for post-traumatic stress disorder following the unrest after Floyd’s death.
He said he wasn't sure what the ballot question would do, but he said he was sure it would not stop police having dangerous interactions with citizens, would not help recruiting and retention and wouldn't suddenly change a police culture that critics say is brutal. He also expressed concern about language in the ballot question that describes the new department as including police officers “if necessary.”
The chief, along with Mayor Jacob Frey have touted several policy changes during their tenure in an effort to reform the department, which include increasing body camera compliance among officers, and bans on “warrior-style” training, choke holds and pretextual stops for low-level offenses.
Arradondo first broke his silence on the ballot question in late August when he said giving City Council members more authority over the department would bury it under layers of bureaucracy and put the department’s new leader in an “wholly unbearable position." He renewed that criticism Wednesday, saying, “I will tell you to have 14 bosses, that is not a business model we would give to children running a lemonade stand."
Opponents have warned that Arradondo, the city's popular Black chief, could leave if the ballot question passes. Arradondo sidestepped questions about that on Wednesday, saying he hasn't had conversations with his family or Mayor Jacob Frey about his future.
___
Mohamed Ibrahim is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.