The Minneapolis City Council has voted to shift almost $8 million in police funding to expand other services, including violence prevention and mental health crisis response teams. But, in the face of a veto threat from the mayor, the council also voted to keep its police staffed at current levels, reversing earlier plans to cut officers from the force.
The vote on Thursday emerged from the national debate over police funding that was sparked in May by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis officers as well as numerous similar incidents around the country. The incidents were followed by massive protests about racial injustice.
Lisa Bender, City Council president, said she’s proud the council unified around a shared goal, Minnesota Public Radio reported. “It’s clear to me and I think to all of us that we need to transform our system of public safety. That we cannot vacillate between police violence and community violence,” Bender said.
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