Minneapolis City Council Diverts $7.7 Million From Police Budget

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The Minneapolis City Council voted early Thursday to remove nearly $7.7 million from Mayor Jacob Frey's proposed 2021 police budget. That money will go toward alternative public safety measures and mental health services in the city's overall 2021 budget, including the launching of a mental health crisis response team.

The council did not vote to reduce officer capacity after Frey threatened to veto the council's budget if they did so.

"Pre-emptively reducing the sworn capacity by 138 officers prior to having alternative responses in place or completing the mutually-agreed upon staffing study is irresponsible," he said Tuesday.

Frey praised the council Thursday after they maintain his proposed sworn staffing levels for next year.

"Today’s vote reflects our commitment to a both-and approach to public safety in this defining moment for our city," he said in a statement.

"My colleagues were right to leave the targeted staffing level unchanged from 888 and continue moving forward with our shared priorities. The additional funding for new public safety solutions will also allow the City to continue upscaling important mental health, non-police response, and social service components in our emergency response system."

The repurposing of police funds was a part of the "Safety for All" budget plan, authored by council members Phillipe Cunningham, Steve Fletcher, and Lisa Bender.

The plan, which was adopted into the city's 2021 budget Thursday, funds the following initiatives:

Provide the right response to calls for help:

— Mental Health Crisis Response Teams and 911 Dispatch Training ($2.44 million)

— Invest in Alternative Responses to Non-Emergency Calls ($1.19 million)

Effectively prevent and intervene in cycles of violence:

— Expanded Violence Prevention program ($1.96 million)

— Neighborhood Safety Organizing ($1.79 million)

— Increase resources for civilian-led police accountability ($335,000)

"With the Safety for All Budget Plan, we are fighting to have mental health crises treated like health crises, instead of like crimes," Council Member Jeremiah Ellison said Thursday.

"Since the murder of George Floyd, the Mayor and the Chief have spun their wheels in the mud of inaction while ignoring the fact that our policing-only model is not working. This status quo has led to multiple deaths of unarmed residents, multiple scandals of police misconduct, an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights of a pattern and practice of discrimination, and we continued to see a rise in violence this year with no answers or solutions aimed at keeping our communities safe."

The budget passed Thursday takes a more conservative approach to police reform than what the city council promised earlier in 2020.

Following the death of George Floyd, a majority of council members pledged to end the Minneapolis Police Department. On June 26, the council unanimously advanced a measure that would amend the city charter, removing the requirement for a police department.

Instead of a police department, the amended charter would require that the city maintain "a department of community safety and violence prevention."

The movement to dismantle the police department stalled in early August, however, when the city's Charter Commission voted to hit pause on an amendment that would dismantle and replace the city's police force. By a vote of 10-5, the group moved to take 90 more days to review it, meaning it wouldn't be on the November ballot as many activists had hoped.