Minneapolis, Minnesota, Replace Police Department with the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention Charter Amendment (November 2020)
| Minneapolis Replace Police Department with the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention Charter Amendment | |
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| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Local law enforcement | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Referral | Origin Lawmakers |
A charter amendment to remove reference to the police department from the city charter and to add the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention was not on the ballot for Minneapolis voters in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on November 3, 2020.[1]
On August 5, 2020, the Minneapolis Charter Commission voted 10-5 to take an additional 90 days to evaluate the proposal and to not send the proposal back to the city council. This effectively blocked the measure from the November 2020 ballot. The city council's deadline to vote to add the measure to the November 2020 ballot was August 21, and the city council was not able to vote on the measure until it was returned by the charter commission.[2]
This page contains:
- a summary of what the charter amendment would have changed
- arguments about and responses to the charter commission vote
- the initial draft of the proposed legal text
- the initial draft of the proposed ballot language
- information about supporters
- information about opponents
- a summary of the process to put the amendment on the ballot
- background on the killing of George Floyd
- background on a related 2018 charter amendment proposal
Measure design
The charter amendment would have removed all reference to the city's police department from the charter. It would also have added a section establishing the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention and the director of the new department. It would have allowed a Division of Law Enforcement Services within the new department that would have been made up of licensed peace officers and would have had a director appointed by the director of the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.[1]
Under the existing charter provisions, the mayor has authority over the police department and nominates the police chief, who must be confirmed by the city council. The existing charter also requires the city council to provide funding to the police department to provide for "a police force of at least 0.0017 employees per resident."
This proposed amendment would have made the city council responsible for establishing and funding the proposed Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention and given the city council authority to establish the Division of Law Enforcement Services within the department. The director of the proposed Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention would have been nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the city council.[1]
A 51% vote at the ballot would be required to pass this charter amendment.
Arguments about and responses to the charter commission vote
On August 5, 2020, the Minneapolis Charter Commission voted 10-5 to take an additional 90 days to evaluate the proposal and to not send the proposal back to the city council. This effectively blocked the measure from the November 2020 ballot.
Charter Commissioner Gregory Abbott said, during the hearing before the vote, "[the charter] should not be cluttered up with the policy disputes of the moment. We don’t know what challenges the city will face in 10 years or 20 years or even in 50 years. [the proposed charter amendment] proposes permanently moving the city’s law enforcement function down to a sub-department two levels removed from supervision by elected officials. The council’s proposal even specifies the professional qualifications of the head of the new department, details more appropriate in my opinion for a zip recruiter ad than for a charter provision. Now these ideas may well be good under the circumstances but they should be enacted as part of an ordinance not included in the charter itself. There is another problem I have with the charter amendment. The proposal radically reduces the power of the mayor and transfer those powers in their entirety to the city council. [...] The City Council's charter proposal represents the most sweeping and radical charter change in living memory. It deserves much more scrutiny [and] discussion than we can give it in a mere 35 days. Quick action on a flawed charter amendment will not produce immediate benefits and could have long term unintended consequences."[3]
Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison responded to the commission's vote, "It is our legacy in the US to use voting to decide our future, whether that be by representative democracy or direct democracy. It is not our legacy to use bureaucratic processes to circumvent the people in an attempt to 'protect' voters from themselves. That is not democracy. In a democracy, the people decide. But I guess today the Charter Commission decided otherwise."[4]
Mayor Jacob Frey, who opposed the charter amendment, said, "I look forward to working with Chief Arradondo, my council colleagues, and community to transform the culture of policing in our city in the months ahead. Now it is on all of us to roll up our sleeves and dig into this work together."[5]
Text of measure
Ballot question
The proposed draft of the ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ |
Shall the Minneapolis City Charter be amended to provide for the establishment of a new Community Safety & Violence Prevention Department and to remove the Police Department?[6] |
” |
Full text
The initial draft of the full text of the proposal is available here.
Support
Supporters
The following Minneapolis City Council members sponsored the measure:[1]
Arguments
Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison said, “No singular action is going to undo longstanding systemic oppression, racial oppression. This is one action of many that we need to take on the road to a more equitable and just system that keeps people safe.”[7]
Opposition
Opponents
Arguments
Mayor Jacob Frey argued that the amendment was unclear and that diverting accountability away from the mayor and the police chief and giving authority to the city council was a bad idea. Frey said, “Will we still have police? If you vote for this, are you voting to abolish the police department or is this merely a cosmetic change where you add a bureaucratic layer, you change the name to peace officer and give them different uniforms?” Frey also said, “If this is about me. There’s an election next year.”[7]
Path to the ballot
Charter amendment process
Minnesota State Statute establishes several ways to amend a city charter. A charter amendment can originate in the city council and be proposed for voter approval at the ballot. Such a charter amendment referral needs to go through the following process:[9]
- A proposed amendment is introduced, read for the first time in the city council, and sent to the proper city council committee.
- Upon a recommendation by the committee, the full council votes on whether to send the charter amendment to the Charter Commission.
- The Charter Commission either approves the proposal, rejects it, or provides an alternative version and makes a recommendation to the city council.
- The Charter Commission has 60 days to evaluate the proposal but can extend its deadline by another 90 days.
- The city council then decides whether to send its original proposal, the Charter Commission's alternative, or neither to the voters.
- The city council does not have to follow the Charter Commissions recommendation.
- Review and recommendations by the Charter Commission are mandatory, however, and the city council cannot vote on the final proposal until recommendations are returned from the Charter Commission.
- If the city council approves referring an amendment to the voters, it then goes to a committee that drafts final ballot language.
- The full city council must then approve the referral of the measure to the voters.
- The deadline for the council to approve the measure for the ballot was 74 days before the election, which was August 21 for the November 2020 election.
- The mayor can veto the city council's official action on the measure.
- The city council can override the veto with a two-thirds supermajority vote.
There are also three other ways the charter can be amended:
- The Charter Commission can approve charter amendments and send them to the city council for inclusion on the ballot.[9]
- A charter amendment can be put on the ballot by a citizen initiative petition signed by registered voters equal to 5 percent of the votes cast at the last statewide general election (10,356 for 2020).[9]
- The city council can pass certain charter amendments without sending them to the voters if city council members unanimously approve the amendment by ordinance. Such city council votes can be challenged by a signature petition containing 2,000 signatures.[9]
Details for this charter amendment
- Minneapolis City Council members Jeremiah Ellison, Alondra Cano, Cam Gordon, Steve Fletcher, and President Lisa Bender sponsored the proposal.[1]
- On June 26, 2020, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to send the proposed charter amendment to the Minneapolis Charter Commission.[10][11]
- The city council requested the Charter Commission to expedite its review of the proposal to allow for a final city council vote on the amendment before the August 21 deadline to put the measure on the November 2020 ballot.[12]
- In response to the request for an expedited timeline, Commission Chair Barry Clegg said that the commission would consider a final decision on the proposal during its August 5 meeting, allowing for a vote by the city council by August 21 if the commission agrees on a recommendation. Clegg said, however, "If we elect to take our additional time, this ballot question will not be on the ballot in November.”[8]
- Charter Commission Member Matt Perry said, “I’m not as concerned about meeting the council’s timeline as I am about getting this right. If that pushes the timeline out, so be it.”[13]
- Charter Commission Member Jana Metge said, "I keep hearing the reason for changing the charter. And the reasons that I am hearing — it can still happen, with the charter as is. And so, I think it would be really important to hear from the authors."[8]
- The Charter Commission invited the proposal's sponsors and Mayor Jacob Frey, who opposes the measure, to its July 8 meeting.[8]
- On July 1, the charter commission voted to hold a public hearing for the charter amendment proposal on July 15, 2020.[14]
- The charter commission scheduled a second public hearing for July 21, 2020.[14]
- Public commentary on the proposal is open and can be submitted by clicking here.
- On August 5, 2020, the Minneapolis Charter Commission voted 10-5 to take an additional 90 days to evaluate the proposal and to not send the proposal back to the city council. This effectively blocked the measure from the November 2020 ballot. The city council's deadline to vote to add the measure to the November 2020 ballot was August 21. The city council cannot vote on a charter amendment until it is returned by the charter commission.
Background
The killing of George Floyd
On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officers arrested George Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill.[15] Floyd died after one officer, Derek Chauvin, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs.[16] Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident.[17] The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process."[17]
In the weeks after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, nationwide events were held calling for changes to policing. Officials responded by issuing executive orders and passing legislation to eliminate certain policing tactics, such as chokeholds, and implement new community policing strategies.[18][19]
Click here to read about those responses.
2018 charter amendment on police oversight
On August 3, 2018, the Minneapolis City Council voted 7-5 to send a charter amendment proposal to the Minneapolis Charter Commission that would have repealed provisions in the charter giving the mayor complete control over the city's police department. The measure would have, instead, allowed rules and regulations for the police department to come from both the city council and the mayor. The charter commission did not make a recommendation to the city council in time for the city council to put the measure on the 2018 ballot. Below is the timeline of the 2018 charter amendment proposal:[20][21][22]
- August 3, 2018: The city council proposed sending the charter amendment to the November 2018 ballot for voter approval.
- According to the process for charter amendments in state law, the charter commission had to make a recommendation to the city council before the city council could vote to put the measure on the ballot.
- August 8, 2018: On the last charter commission meeting before the city council's deadline for adding measures to the November 2018 ballot, the charter commission voted to file the proposal and not make a recommendation to the city council. This prevented the city council from voting on the measure in time for inclusion on the 2018 ballot.
- August 21, 2018: The charter commission approved a task force to produce a report on the charter amendment proposal.
- December 12, 2018: The task force delivered the report to the charter commission. The report can be viewed by clicking here.
- January 2, 2019: The charter commission rejected the city council's charter amendment proposal.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 City of Minneapolis, "Community Safety and Violence Prevention Charter Amendment Ordinance," accessed July 1, 2020
- ↑ Star Tribune, "Commission blocks Minneapolis plan to remake police from November ballot," August 5, 2020
- ↑ YouTube, "August 5, 2020 Charter Commission," August 5, 2020
- ↑ The Hill, "Amendment to disband Minneapolis police will not appear on November ballot," August 5, 2020
- ↑ ABC 5, "Minneapolis Charter Commission criticizes city council as it requests more time on plan to dismantle police," August 5, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wall Street Journal, "Minneapolis City Council Advances Plan to Abolish Police Department," June 26, 2020
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 MPR News, "Mpls. charter commission begins work on proposal to eliminate MPD Brandt," July 1, 2020
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 City of Minneapolis, "Amending the City Charter," accessed July 1, 2020
- ↑ Associated Press, "Plan advances to allow dismantling Minneapolis Police Dept.," June 26, 2020
- ↑ City of Minneapolis, "Community Safety and Violence Prevention charter amendment (2020-00668)," accessed July 1, 2020
- ↑ City of Minneapolis, "City Clerk Letter to the Charter Commission," June 30, 2020
- ↑ Star Tribune, "Some on Minneapolis Charter Commission in no hurry to act on proposal to eliminate police," July 1, 2020
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 City of Minneapolis, "Proposed Charter amendment related to community safety and violence prevention (CH2020-00014)," accessed July 1, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
- ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, "Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities," June 16, 2020
- ↑ King5.com, "Seattle council bans police use of chokeholds and crowd control weapons," June 15, 2020
- ↑ City of Minneapolis, "Police Department charter amendment (CH2018-00010)," accessed July 1, 2020
- ↑ City of Minneapolis, "Police Department charter amendment (2018-00802)," accessed July 1, 2020
- ↑ City of Minneapolis ,"Police Department Charter Amendment Task Force (CH2018-00012)," accessed July 1, 2020
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