Minneapolis City Council Making Second Attempt to Defund their Police Department

Following the trend among Democrat-led cities, Minneapolis City Council is once again attempting to defund their police department.

The Minneapolis City Council is trying again to defund the city’s police department after a failed attempt to replace the department with a “community-oriented” solution.

Three members of the City Council are now offering a new solution that involves slashing the police budget and cutting the number of MPD officers to 770 or less. Council members Phillipe Cunningham, Lisa Bender and Steve Fletcher co-wrote a budget plan that proposes moving about $8 million out of the police department.

Minneapolis’ CBS affiliate reported that “part of the $8 million would go toward creating unarmed response teams for non-emergencies. Cunningham says without MPD having to deal with theft reports or parking problems, officers would be freed up to investigate violent crime.”

Councilwoman Bender was the force behind City Council’s first attempt to disband the police. The move was eventually rejected by the Minneapolis’ Charter Commission.

In the past, Bender had told interviewers that people’s fears about a rising crime rate were evidence of “privilege.”

Attempts to defund the police are happening in Democrat-led cities all across the country. Seattle is one of the most recent examples, as the City Council voted last week to slash its police department’s budget. Meanwhile, dozens of Seattle’s officers are fleeing the department.

It’s vital that we reject movements to defund the police and instead support our law enforcement officers – the men and women who work hard to maintain peace and safety in our communities.