OT - Veto Proof Majority On Minneapolis' City Council Supports Disbanding Police Department
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/us/george-floyd-protests-sunday/index.ht…
BOOM - keep the protests up, and we can take down more brutal and/or racist departments!
be careful what you seek, for you may find it
Seriously. "Committee of Public Safety." SMH. Do they even cover the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror in schools anymore? Have history classes at all?
LOL, seriously. Let's bring back feudal monarchies and the House of Bourbon, amirite?
Why would one need to be careful if they found cops who didn't kill unarmed black men over alleged non-violent offenses?
Welcome to the Thunderdome Minneapolis, this is your toll for being woke
break a deal, face the wheel
Nobody thought the revolution would start in Minneapolis.
Except Prince.
Putting aside the issue of systemic racism (which goes much deeper than just policing - like every layer of society -healthcare, socioeconomics, education, upward mobility, career opportunities, voting, etc, etc, etc), and just focusing on policing for this topic....
When police started rolling around in tanks and were militarized, due to the surplus of weaponry and supplies post 9-11 Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, shit got even worse than it was. It got worse for everyone, and as the wars wound down or were using new weapons such as drones, the military profiteers needed to continue to sell their toys somewhere...hello police state (which of course disproportionately screwed black and brown people in urban areas) because that's where police get to test out all the new toys.
Time to wind down the absurdity of arming police as if they are at war with the population they are supposed to protect.
I agree with this completely. I'll add that I've been increasingly sickened by no-knock tragedies, confiscation of property, and and intimidation by way too many in the policing community, in addition to what you note above, and the violence against black people.
But abolishing the police force? First thought is that seems like lunacy. But the post above is very informative - I didn't know another city had implemented such a system. I'll need to educate myself. And I don't feel bad that I didn't know this. My life is full and very busy and it's impossible to know all things known by all people.
But this is a very important topic, so I'll be getting my fill in the next few days.
I am not too familiar with the no-knock tragedies besides the Breonna Taylor story that has been circulating during these protests, and I am not very aware of property confiscation. Like you, I'll need to read up and educate myself more on the prevalence of these occurrences.
Re: property confiscation
Like all articles, the headline belies quite a bit more nuance, as this same councilperson states
"The idea of having no police department is certainly not in the short term," she added.
The idea is that the current police department isn't working and starting fresh might be the better option. It doesn't mean every police officer disappears forever, but perhaps there are measures taken to change the current system similar to what we've seen in order cities regarding more community involvement and a focus on de-escalation practices. In practice my guess is that it simply means a lot of the officers come back to work but the ability to remove, say, a guy with numerous excessive force claims against him is a bit easier.
You’re smart enough to realize that there will be a police force. I would tend to believe a lot of the protesters demanding “defund the police” actually thinks that means “get rid of the police.”
Mental illness is alive and well...
To echo what others have said, please read the article before you assume the city council is inviting Mad Max Fury Road. It's too early to tell exactly what this move would mean, but it's very unlikely to involve a complete lack of law enforcement.
At the very least, this will be a fascinating experiment, and as a BA in political science one I will pay close attention to. Though I'm a bit skeptical of a city of this size adopting this approach (a feeling that it seems several on the board tonight share), like many have mentioned this method did bring about some positive results in Camden where their community was struggling to establish trust between the police and the public. Here's hoping this brings a newfound hope in the Twin Cities and more data to find more efficient ways to protect and serve.
Just one note to the OP though: while I appreciate the enthusiasm for current events and believe this would be a pretty normal/cool OT topic even during the season, I think mgoblog would benefit from less personal commentary on such issues as it usually turns the resulting thread into a political debate. I still believe that a non-political mgoblog is possible!
Let's defund MGoBlog!!!!
This is nothing more than a political stunt designed to break Kroll's hold on the union.
Minneapolis will not be without a police force.
They will "dissolve" the force then selectively rehire.
Interesting way to circumvent collective bargaining. I’m sure mother Russia could give more examples.
Can we reform the Democrats and Republicans? Neither can seem to run the country without screwing something up.
Unfortunately the only thing the two parties seem to work well together on is bolstering the country's two party system. Two party system sucks
Couldn’t agree more. The problem is everyone will tell you the same thing to your face but come Election Day they will quietly slink away to their ballot box and maintain the status quo. You’ll say the same thing next year and the process repeats.
The democrats already kinda have there own two parties. Unless you view the Democratic socialist movement to the left what the Tea Party was to the right a few years ago. That could be an interesting conversation.
I agree.
Dingdingdingdingding!!! Winner winner chicken dinner!
Honestly, I hate both parties at this point. If I thought there was a third party candidate on the ballot in November that could actually win, I would vote for that person.
If everyone didn’t have the mindset of “third party candidates aren’t viable so I won’t vote for them,” then third party candidates WOULD be viable.
This country is stuck in a two party system largely because people are afraid to vote third party because... no one... votes... third... party... see how that works? It’s a catch 22
They need to become viable at lower levels and not just be an occasional renegade running for President every 4 or 8 years. Would be interesting to see a 3rd party have say 80 house seats and 8 Senate seats.
This country is stuck in a two party system largely because "first past the poll" electoral systems basically force adherence to it.
You can REPLACE the parties (see: Republicans replace Whigs) - but it's still going to end up with two viable parties.
Sure thing.
Join up. Go to meetings. Vote on procedure/rules/platform for the party.
Oh wait - you really meant "Can someone reform Democrats and Republicans for us while I do nothing?"
The real question is, what is Sweden doing?
Whatever it is, they're doing it wrong!
You always have St. Petersburg Sir.
Im betting a solid portion of Minneapolis protestors are now feeling a bit regretful. Its one thing to protest police brutality. Its another thing to disband the police
Im glad I dont live there. The only people that win in this situation are criminals
This should be tested out. Have cops in cities actively campaigning for defunding or eliminating the police have a "blue flu" outbreak, all the cops call in sick at the same time. Do it for 72 hours and see what happens.
They did it in NYC and crime went down, so....
Well geniuses, you forgot that there is a branch of law enforcement that isn't being discussed...The prison system where all the predators go who prey on the Champions of social justice....society. Thats why you have police departments. In case you were not aware, Michigans sentencing guidelines and parole guidelines have been significantly revamped. We have law enforcement because grownups can't seem to always behave. If you have a criminal element you will have law enforcement.
The lunatic is on the grass.......Got to keep the loonies on the path.
So woke.
can the blog please go back to whar some 15 year old in south bumfuck may be putting on his list of schools he may like to visit
I do not support movements that do not allow data and dissenting opinions into the debate.
Yes, we know that you feel the need to inject your brilliant counter argument that racism doesn't exist and everybody protesting is just misdirecting their anger at police instead of the real culprits -- black people and their inherent criminality. How'd I do?
An African American teen in Buffalo who spent 10 hours cleaning up what the protestors left behind and was rewarded by members of the community with a car and a college scholarship. People are good and if more African Americans showed interest in the community people would undoubtedly reciprocate the good. Imagine if instead of protesting those people spent all that time helping the community.
Your response manages to simultaneously have nothing to do with my comment and yet fully expose your wrong thinking on this whole situation.
Brilliant, keep up the good work!
God forbid anyone say any wrongthink in front of people who are utterly, completely, and totally convinced they are right.
Take a look at this guy's posting history on recent threads:
"If systemic racism exists you would not have African Americans in positions like mayors, congressmen/women, President, doctors, lawyers, etc."
"Systemic oppression is a vague term thrown around by politicians that they can point to whenever they have a grievance. The only oppression I see is what the black community does to itself with homicides and absent fathers."
What in the actual fuck -- this is 4chan and Stormfront level shit right here on MgoBlog -- but glad to see you and others support this content. I'll go crawl back in my lefty hole and let you true patriots tell me what's best for the black community.
User name checks out
He has a different opinion than you do. Calling people Nazis for having different opinions than you do fully reinforces the point that wrongthink is real.
Ah, your argument can't stand on it's own so you put words in my mouth -- show me where I called him a nazi? I said his comment and that type of thinking is what you would expect to see from a white supremacist. But I guess his is just a different opinion and therefore I'm wrong to criticize it - understood.
I'm also so relieved to find out that racism is over since we elected a black president -- how exciting.
Do you have any clue what Stormfront is? It's a site for neo-Nazis. How are you going to throw around Stormfront, accuse people of having opinions that belong there, and act like you're not invoking Nazis?
No, I just combined two words storm and front -- thought it was a meteorological term.
Comment stands -- I never said the OP was a neo-nazi (not saying he isn't) simply pointing out that comments to the effect that the only problems black people face in the US are of their own making is the level of discourse I'd expect on the sites I referenced.