Sometimes, when citizens feel that their government can’t or won’t protect them they take up arms and prepare to take the defense of their homes and families into their own hands. But for one group of citizens in Minneapolis, Minnesota, they’ve decided to take up a lawyer and take the city to court. Residents of the North Side community in the state’s largest city say they are being “left with nothing” in terms of police protection, just as the city is discussing defunding or possibly abolishing its police department. But these residents point out that the police haven’t even been removed or reduced yet and they are already seeing violent crime rates far above previous years. So they want all of this talk about doing away with the police to stop. (CBS Minnesota)
The state’s largest city faces a lawsuit for a crime spike amid calls to replace the police department.
Two separate shootings Tuesday morning pushed the number of killings in Minneapolis to 49.
That’s one more death than in all of last year.
“Every single night on any block on this neighborhood you can hear gunshots every single freaking night,” Cathy Spann said.
Ms. Spann went on to say that her community was “riddled with crime and we are under siege.” Her neighbor, Don Samuels (also part of the suit), said he “knew that this was going to be a disaster when we heard the un-consulted announcement made.”
They seem to have the data to back up their complaint. Minneapolis is already 20 homicides ahead of where it was at the same time last year and the total number of shootings is also well above average.
At issue in the lawsuit is the city charter which specifies the minimum number of police officers per capita Minneapolis must have on the force. The current proposals would bring the number of officers below that level in violation of the charter. And the city charter can’t simply be changed by a vote of the City Council. It would require a resolution approved by the voters. Given the current conditions in Minneapolis, does anyone really think such a resolution would pass with the people living with and watching this debacle unfold?
Based on the current population of the city, Minneapolis is supposed to have a minimum of 743 officers on the police force. The current proposals would drive the number below that, and even if they don’t, cops are retiring in such numbers that they’re at risk of missing the cut anyway. In other words, the city needs to be recruiting and hiring more cops, not getting rid of them. How did nobody on the City Council think to check the charter to see if what they were doing was legal before exploring these proposals?
The city said that the lawsuit is being reviewed but didn’t offer any additional comment at this time. The neighbors bringing this suit aren’t asking for any money. They’re simply asking their elected leaders to keep them safe. That doesn’t seem like such an extraordinary demand, does it?
