Where are the Police? That is the question of the hour in Minneapolis. The city has made itself an object lesson in Democrat leadership or lack thereof. Minneapolis is the home of the late George Floyd. After his death the all Democrat Minneapolis City Council went on the political offensive.
Related: Minneapolis Democrats Successfully “Replace Police” with More Crime and Violence
Minneapolis took the lead in the anti-police movement. Their city council meetings were loud and aggressive. The council was soon voting to defund the city’s police department. The council sought to replace traditional law enforcement. It knew an alternative form of policing was the answer. They are mandating the adoption of a new community-based model.
What the city council did violates the cardinal rule for elected public bodies. They were guilty of telling not selling. The council did not ask: Are there issues we have not given proper consideration? They simply ordered the change. The council did so without talking with the people who do the job. It is pretty much the definition of an opportunity to improve its policymaking process.
Months have gone by. Violent crime is plaguing the city. The city council is now asking: “Where are the police?” But they have to know the answer. They, the Minneapolis City Council, passed a resolution in June to replace the city’s police department. It did so mandating an alternative “community safety” model.
The development came just days after the council promised anti-police residents they would completely dismantle the city’s policing system. For the uneducated, this is called a knee jerk reaction. No thought or planning went into the decision. It was a case of; we have mad people in the council chamber. Just do something.
The chickens are coming home to roost
The City Council held a two-hour meeting with the Police Chief this week. The city council demanded to know why the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is not responding to the violence? Where are the enhanced law enforcement measures?
From a Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) report:
The number of reported violent crimes is up compared to 2019. Those are crimes like assaults, robberies and homicides. This is based on MPD crime data. More people have been killed in the city in the first nine months of 2020 than were slain in all of last year. Property crimes, like burglaries and auto thefts, are also up. Incidents of arson have increased 55% over the total at this point in 2019.
Councilman Jamal Osman said, “Residents are asking, ‘Where are the police?’ … That is the only public safety option they have at the moment. MPD. They rely on MPD. And they are saying they are nowhere to be seen.”
Council President Lisa Bender, one of the loudest anti-police voices just months ago, claimed police are being “defiant,” according to MPR. “This is not new,” she claimed.
Meanwhile, Phillipe Cunningham chided his colleagues for looking to the police for solutions when they called for the department’s abolition just a few months ago. “What I am sort of flabbergasted by right now is colleagues, who a very short time ago were calling for abolition, are now suggesting we should be putting more resources and funding into MPD,” Cunningham said.
The chief responds
MPD Chief Arradondo told the council that he actually has taken measures to combat the spike in crime. He explained that more officers have been added to patrols. Additional resources have been allocated for investigative duties. The chief reiterated the seriousness of the crime issue with top department officials.
Arradondo explained the department is hemorrhaging personnel. More than 100 officers have left the department this year alone. That is more than double the usual number. With fewer officers, law enforcement becomes much more difficult.
The momentum driving the push to disband the Minneapolis police department has dissipated. The Minneapolis City Council is learning a lesson. Highly emotional rhetoric does not translate into functional policy.
“I think when you take a statement and then move into policy work, it gets more complicated,” Bender told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
What we can learn from the Minneapolis example is Democrat leadership acts first and thinks later if at all. The city has made itself an object lesson in Democrat leadership or lack thereof. Is this what we want America to be like for the next four years. Imagine Biden in the White House and AOC as Speaker. What a future that portends. Who are you voting for in November?
