Can a city survive without a police force? Minneapolis is about to find out: Council votes to dismantle 'toxic' police force over mayor's objections

Minneapolis councilors have voted to abolish the city's police force in an historic move that comes after days of protests over the killing of George Floyd. 

The city council voted with a veto-proof three-quarters majority to begin the process of dismantling the 'toxic' police department on Sunday - overruling the objections of 38-year-old mayor Jacob Frey. 

The move will likely face legal challenges, including from the city's police union which has so far resisted attempts at reform, and could get tied up for months in red tape. 

Council President Lisa Bender told CNN on Sunday that there are no plans to get ride of the police force 'in the short term', but that city leaders are committed 'to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our community safe.'

Councilors do not have direct control over the police force but they do have control over the way the department is funded, meaning they could effectively shut it down by removing funding.

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Alondra Cano, a City Council member, speaks during 'The Path Forward' meeting at Powderhorn Park on Sunday

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The Minneapolis City Council released a statement regarding the intention to restructure 

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Minneapolis has voted to abolish the city's police force with a veto-proof majority despite the objections of mayor Jacob Frey, 38 (pictured), who was booed by protesters at the weekend after refusing to back the demand

Announcing the result of the vote on Sunday, Bender addressed crowds in Powderhorn Park, just blocks away from where Floyd was filmed suffocating to death while being knelt on by police officers for nine minutes.

'We're here because we hear you. We are here today because George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police,' Bender said.

'We are here because here in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States it is clear that our existing system of policing and public safety is not keeping our communities safe. 

'Our efforts at incremental reform have failed. Period.'

Camden, New Jersey, is the only city in recent years to undertake similar reforms. It scrapped its police force in 2012 after being named one of the most violent places in America, and has reported positive results.

But it is far from clear that the same strategy will work in Minneapolis - a city with almost six times the population of Camden and with a police force that is more than three times the size of Camden's when it was removed.  

A joint statement issued by the council members read: 'Decades of police reform efforts have proved that the Minneapolis Police Department cannot be reformed, and will never be accountable for its action.

'We are here today to begin the process of ending the Minneapolis Police Department and creating a new transformative model for cultivating safety in our city.

'We recognize that we don't have all the answers about what a police-free future looks like, but our community does.

'We're committing to engaging with every willing community member in the City of Minneapolis over the next year to identify what safety looks like for everyone.'

'We'll be taking intermediate steps towards ending the MPD through the budget process and other policy and budget decisions over the coming weeks and months.' 

Defunding police services has been a key demand of protesters that have taken to streets across the nation in the wake of Floyd's death on May 25.

While no city other than Minneapolis has committed to abolishing its police department, several much-larger cities - including New York and Los Angeles - have committed to moving funds away from policing and into community services instead. 

Outlining what the next steps for Minneapolis might look like, Bender said she is committed to reforming the department but that the solutions 'lie within the community'.

Campaign group MPD150 has been advocating for the abolition of the Minneapolis Police Department since 2017, when it turned 150 years old.

It is not clear that their model is the one that will be adopted by councilors, but it gives an indication of the kind of things activists are likely to demand. 

A pamphlet posted on the group's website reads: 'Police abolition work is not about snapping our fingers and instantly defunding every department in the world. 

'Rather, we're talking about a gradual process of strategically reallocating resources, funding, and responsibility away from police and toward community-based models of safety, support, and prevention. 

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Flowers, signs and balloons are left near a makeshift memorial to George Floyd near the spot where he died while in custody of the Minneapolis police

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Hundreds gathered in Powderhorn Park to hear what the council was going to propose 

'The people who respond to crises in our community should be the people who are best-equipped to deal with those crises. 

'Rather than strangers armed with guns, who very likely do not live in the neighborhoods they're patrolling, we want to create space for more mental health service providers, social workers, victim/survivor advocates, religious leaders, neighbors and friends– all of the people who really make up the fabric of a community– to look out for one another.'

A related group, called Reclaim The Block, have been calling since 2018 for funds to be stripped from the police department and invested in affordable housing and addiction counseling - as well as violence support groups and youth programs. 

Such a move is historic, but not unprecedented. In 2012, the city of Camden, New Jersey, removed its entire police force in order to establish a new county-wide force - gutting the local police union in the process.

Gabe Rodriguez, a police lieutenant who grew up in Camden and saw the reforms brought in, told The Times that officers were told to move away from a 'warrior' mentality towards a 'guardian' one.

The idea of 'community policing' was central to the strategy, which saw officers driving out in ice cream trucks and hosting barbecues in order to connect with the people they were hired to protect.

Since then, Camden's murder rate has fallen by almost 50 per cent. So far this year the city has seen just three killings. The year before the reforms came in it had 67.

As Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets following Floyd's death, police in Camden joined them - with chief Joseph Wysocki pictured holding a banner reading 'standing in solidarity' alongside black activists.

In Ferguson, Missouri - where a white officer in 2014 fatally shot Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old - then-Attorney General Eric Holder said federal authorities considered dismantling the police department. The city eventually reached an agreement short of that but one that required massive reforms.

The state of Minnesota has launched a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, and the first concrete changes came when the city agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints.

On Saturday, Minneapolis mayor Frey was been booed out of a Black Lives Matter demonstration after refusing to defund the city's police department - as Rep. Ilhan Omar called for it to be disbanded.  

Frey proved to be at odds with activists fighting police brutality just two days after he sobbed uncontrollably at the foot of George Floyd's gold coffin during a memorial service.  

'I have been coming to grips with my own responsibility, my own failure in this,' Frey said Saturday.

'If you're asking whether I'm for massive structural reform to revise a structurally racist system the answer is 'yes.' If you're asking whether I will do everything possible to push back on the inherent inequities that are literally built into the architecture the answer is 'yes,'' said Frey.  

'If you're asking whether I'm willing to do everything I possibly can throughout the rest of my term to make sure that the police union, the police contract, the arbitration system, and some of these policies that have resulted in problems for specifically Black and Brown people and murder over series of generations, I'm all for that. 

'I'm not for abolishing the entire police department, I will be honest about that,' Frey said.

Frey's handling of Floyd's death and the subsequent protests that have surged across Minneapolis has been under intense scrutiny.

Minneapolis was the center of both violent and peaceful protests following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd. 

Floyd died after white cop Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes, ignoring Floyd's 'I can't breathe' cries and holding it there even after Floyd stopped moving. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted that she was present at the meeting community meeting

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City Council members have said they will invest in community-led safety initiatives instead of the police department.

'It shouldn't have taken so much death to get us here,' said Kandace Montgomery, the director of Black Vision at the rally. 

'We're safer without armed, unaccountable patrols supported by the state hunting black people.'  

Community activists have criticized the department for years for what they say is a racist and brutal culture that resists change and had been pushing for a new model.

At another march Saturday during which leaders called for defunding the department, Verbena Dempster said she supported the idea.

'I think, honestly, we're too far past' the chance for reform, Dempster told Minnesota Public Radio. 'We just have to take down the whole system.' 

Protesters who were present at the rally held close to Powderhorn Lake agreed that it was a breakthrough that elected officials had committed to complete overhaul of policing.   

Across the country over the last week, protesters marched on city streets and voiced their demands to cut or abolish police departments altogether frequently chanting 'defund the police'. 

A heavy-handed response to demonstrations in many places has underscored what critics have maintained: Law enforcement is militarized and too often uses excessive force.

Cities imposed curfews as several protests last week were marred by spasms of arson, assaults and smash-and-grab raids on businesses. More than 10,000 people have been arrested around the country since protests began, according to reports tracked by The Associated Press. Videos have surfaced of officers in riot gear using tear gas or physical force against even peaceful demonstrators.

But U.S. protests in recent days have been overwhelmingly peaceful - and over the weekend, several police departments appeared to retreat from aggressive tactics.

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Flames from a nearby fire illuminate protesters standing on a barricade in front of the Third Police Precinct in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during a protest over the death of George Floyd

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Minneapolis Police officers stand in a line while facing protesters demonstrating against the death of George Floyd outside the 3rd Precinct Police Precinct in Minneapolis - photo from May 27

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Several cities have also lifted curfews, including Chicago and New York City, where the governor urged protesters to get tested for the virus and to proceed with caution until they had. Leaders around the country have expressed concern that demonstrations could lead to an increase in coronavirus cases.

For the first time since protests began in New York more than a week ago, most officers Sunday were not wearing riot helmets as they watched over rallies. Police moved the barricades at the Trump hotel at Columbus Circle for protesters so they could pass through.

Officers in some places in the city casually smoked cigars or ate ice cream and pizza. Some officers shook hands and posed for photos with motorcyclists at one rally.

In Compton, California, several thousand protesters, some on horseback, peacefully demonstrated through the city, just south of Los Angeles. The only law enforcement presence was about a dozen sheriff's deputies, who watched without engaging.

In Washington, D.C., National Guard troops from South Carolina were seen checking out of their hotel Sunday shortly before President Donald Trump tweeted he was giving the order to withdraw them from the nation's capital.

Things weren't as peaceful in Seattle, where the mayor and police chief had said they were trying to deescalate tensions. Police used flash bang devices and pepper spray to disperse protesters after rocks, bottles and explosives were thrown at officers Saturday night. 

On Sunday night, a man drove a car at protesters, hit a barricade then exited the vehicle brandishing a pistol, authorities said. A 27-year-old male was shot and taken to a hospital in stable condition, the Seattle Fire Department said.

Dual crises - the coronavirus pandemic and the protests - have weighed particularly heavily on the black community, which has been disproportionately affected by the virus, and also exposed deep political fissures in the U.S. during this presidential election year.

Trump's leadership during both has been called into question by Democrats and a few Republicans who viewed his response to COVID-19 as too little, too late, and his reaction to protests as heavy handed and insensitive.

On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah marched in a protest in Washington against police mistreatment of minorities, making him the first known Republican senator to do so.

'We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against racism and against brutality,' Romney, who represents Utah, told NBC News.

On Sunday, Floyd's body arrived in Texas for a third and final memorial service, said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. A viewing is planned for Monday in Houston, followed by a service and burial Tuesday in suburban Pearland.

The state of Minnesota launched a civil rights investigation of the department last week, and the first concrete changes came Friday when the city agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints.  

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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey kneels in front of George Floyd's gold casket and sobs

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Rep. Ilhan Omar (pictured): ''I will never cosign on funding a police department that continues to brutalize us and I will never stop saying, not only do we need dis-invest police but we need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department'

Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder along with three other officers - Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J Alexander Kueng who have been charged with aiding and abetting in Floyd's fatal arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill on Memorial Day two weeks ago.

On Sunday, protesters in cities including Washington, New York and Winter Park, Florida, began focusing their outrage over the death of Floyd onto demands for police reform and social justice.

But in Seattle a person was shot and wounded after a man armed with a gun drove into a crowd of protesters. The suspect was arrested, police said.

Mitt Romney, a Republican senator from Utah, joined a group of Christian protesters marching toward the White House. He tweeted photos of himself in the procession, along with the simple caption, 'Black Lives Matter.'

Although Romney has been a rare Republican voice of opposition to Trump, he was joined last week by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who said criticism of Trump was overdue.

Trump's tough approach to putting down protests continued to draw exceptional rebukes from top retired military officers, a group normally loath to criticize a civilian leader.

Former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell joined them Sunday, saying Trump had 'drifted away' from the constitution. Powell, a Republican moderate, said Trump had weakened America's position around the world and that in November's presidential election he would support Democrat Joe Biden. 

Condoleezza Rice, who succeeded Powell as secretary of state under President George W. Bush, told CBS she would 'absolutely' oppose using the military against peaceful protesters, adding, 'This isn't a battlefield.'

The president has ordered National Guard troops to begin withdrawing from the nation's capital, whose Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat who jousted with Trump over the use of force in her city, told Fox News there had been no arrests on Saturday despite the protests which saw thousands moving through the capital's streets.

A week earlier, however, there were fires and vandalism.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told ABC that Washington had been 'a city out of control' and denied a problem of systemic racism among police.

The Trump administration has proposed no specific policy changes in response to the widespread outrage over Floyd's death. 

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Derek Chauvin, 44, the officer filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck during his arrest was a 19-year veteran of the force. He faces murder charges in Floyd's death

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Former Minneapolis police officers (clockwise from top left) Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng booking photographs. Chauvin is now charged with second-degree murder, and his three fellow officers are charged with aiding and abetting

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said they would introduce legislation in the House of Representatives on Monday to make policing more accountable.

The legislation is expected to make it easier to sue police officers over deadly incidents, to ban the sort of choke holds that led to Floyd's death, and to establish a national database to record police misconduct. 

One member of the caucus, Representative Val Demings of Florida, a former police chief in the city of Orlando, told ABC that 'systemic racism is always the ghost in the room.'

'What we have to do as a nation is hold police accountable,' said Demings, who has been mentioned as a possible running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

It is unclear what support the proposed reforms might find in the Republican-controlled Senate - or whether Trump might sign such legislation into law.

Some jurisdictions have moved already to embrace reforms - starting with bans on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters Sunday that he would cut the city's police budget and shift some funds to youth and social services, local media reported.

Trump seized on the call by some protesters to slash police funding to attack Biden, tweeting without evidence that 'not only will Sleepy Joe Biden DEFUND THE POLICE, but he will DEFUND OUR MILITARY!'

The president is scheduled to host a roundtable with law enforcement on Monday.

Biden, who has accused Trump of fanning 'the flames of hate,' plans to travel to Houston on Monday to visit Floyd's family. He will also record a message to be read at Floyd's funeral on Tuesday.