The future of the Minneapolis Police Department could soon be in the hands of the city’s voters.
Five members of the Minneapolis City Council members pushed on Friday night to let voters decide in November whether to replace the current police department, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Friday.
A total of seven council members — a majority of the 13-member body — would need to approve the measure.
Several in the Council have already promised to “dismantle” the department in the wake of nationwide protests following the police-custody killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety,” Council President Lisa Bender tweeted back on June 4.
But Bender and others who supported abolishing the police have since stressed that it could only happen after a year of planning and outreach.
Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, who supports the department’s dismantling, told the Star Tribune the current charter provision mandating police staffing based on population is a significant roadblock for abolishing the city’s police force.
“Without [the charter provision’s removal], we can’t actually have an earnest yearlong conversation with the community that will mean anything,” Ellison told the paper.
“And by making this change, it doesn’t eliminate the police. … Until we have an emergency response system that is ready to deploy, we’re going to have police in its place.”
The Council and, the Minneapolis Charter Commission would have to act fast to add the measure to the ballot before an Aug. 21 deadline, the paper reported.
In a step toward a post-police Minneapolis, the Council on Friday also unanimously approved a resolution declaring its “intent to create a transformative new model for cultivating safety in our city.”
The resolution establishes a “Community Safety Work Group” that will be formed of city staffers responsible for recommending policy changes for a new safety system and for laying out the plan for public input over the next year.
“As we respond to demands for immediate action to reduce police violence and support community safety, we will invite our community to help shape long-term transformative change, centering the voices of those most impacted by community violence and police violence,” Bender said in a statement.