A 12–1 vote from the Minneapolis City Council pushed a petition drive to replace Minneapolis’ police force with a department of public safety on the November ballot. New reformer group Yes 4 Minneapolis gathered 20,000 petition signatures to place this proposal on the ballot.
The proposal would eliminate the city’s charter minimum number of 730 police officers.
In February, The Reformer reported the group is fueled by a single $500,000 donation from progressive activist billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Policy Center, citing campaign finance documents.
This follows a June court order for the 435,000-person city to hire more police officers since it was violating its charter by understaffing the department after many officers quit or claimed disability after the death of George Floyd.
Hennepin County District Judge Jamie Anderson’s writ of mandamus ordered Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey to “immediately take any and all necessary action to ensure that they fund a police force” of at least 730 sworn officers, or more if required by the 2020 Census to be published later this year, by June 30, 2022.
Read the full article at The Epoch Times.