Materials for Learning
Join us for virtual phone banking or door knocking shifts and talk directly with voters about the new charter amendments for housing and public safety! If you’re brand new to this Faith in MN will have training at the start of each shift. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/MplsShiftsFall2021
For information provided by Yes 4 Minneapolis about the new Public Safety Charter Amendment, visit this link (https://bit.ly/Yes4MplsNightOutToolkit) to open the Digital Toolkit.
How does a “comprehensive public health approach” address gun violence & crime in the community?
This model allows for BOTH intervention and prevention.
The people of Minneapolis deserve to be and feel safe in their neighborhoods and communities. We already see that the current model of police-only isn’t working. Police violence is evident while communities are also seeing overall violence on the rise, 9-1-1 response times differ based on your neighborhood, and we still have not addressed the root causes of crime and violence, like poverty, unstable housing, and inequitable access to good schools.
Changing the charter establishes a proven model of public safety that is more humane, includes police along with professionals who are trained in mental health issues, gang intervention, drug and alcohol induced interactions, crisis de-escalation, and treats all members of the community equally, regardless of race or class. So not only are we providing safety measures for immediate and emergency needs, we are also creating the conditions to lower harm over time, making the city more safe for generations to come!
How does this address accountability and transparency with police?
The people of Minneapolis deserve to have people who they trust to show up when they need them and are accountable to residents, visitors and business owners in the city. Minneapolis politicians and police have long failed to address the race-based harm and violence that continue to plague the Minneapolis Police Department, and the 1961 city charter has blocked any real structural reform. It’s time to remove the barriers to a new era in public safety where the police work alongside qualified professionals, like mental health responders and social workers, to make all our communities safer.
Who has oversight?
Changing the charter finally allows the people of Minneapolis to have oversight - just like they do currently with every other department in the city - through strong representative democracy by adding a commissioner with city council members and the mayor. The current structure unique to the Police Department of only mayoral oversight has resulted in an insulated department solely managed by an isolated but influential police federation system and an unhealthy "wall of silence" that has resulted in an erosion of trust and a deterioration of the consent of the residents. The amendment will strengthen and improve oversight by having Public Safety policies and procedures debated and voted on in public rather than behind closed doors between the mayor and chief. This streamlines and simplifies city governance by aligning its structure and policy oversight with all the other city charter departments like the Legal department; Civil Rights Department; Department of Community Planning and Economic Development; Fire Department, Health Department, Public Works Department; Purchasing Department; and Regulatory Services Department. These departments have internal hierarchy and similarly, the current and future law enforcement leads/chiefs can work with the city's other measures of support