After Pledges to Disband the Police, Minneapolis Makes Compromise Budget Cuts
In the city where George Floyd was killed, a year of cries to defund the police ends with more incremental change that activists call a “big step.”
Andrea Jenkins, vice president of the Minneapolis City Council, told community members in June that the council would disband the police.
Photographer: Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Six months after Minneapolis city council members declared they would disband the police department, the council passed a budget that would maintain police staffing at its current level, and allow for potential expanded recruitment in future years. But it also includes notable reforms, including reallocating nearly $8 million to alternative police responses and mental health interventions, and increasing oversight of some police funds.
The decision caps off a year in which national calls to defund the police got the strongest initial reception in Minneapolis, where the police killing of George Floyd in May sparked global protests. Although falling short of cries to “defund,” these compromise changes were broadly supported by some of the most visible advocates of police divestment, after more dramatic reforms were stalled by procedural setbacks, a spike in violent crime and divided public opinion.