明尼阿波利斯市议会推进废除警察部门的计划

明尼阿波利斯市议会在周五一致批准了一个拟议的宪章修正案，并将送交公共委员会。该修正案计划废除警察部门，以一个新的社会安全和暴力预防部门取代。这个新部门将对公共安全采取“整体的、以公众健康为导向”的方法。拟议的修正案表示，新部门的负责人不应该拥有执法背景，而应该来自于社区健康等领域。同时，新部门可以有一个执法部门和一个执证的“和平官员”。市议会成员杰里迈亚·埃里森表示：“没有任何一个单一的措施能解决长期的、系统性的种族压迫，这（拟议的修正案）只是许多行动中的一个，我们需要向一个更公平、更公正的系统前进。”

然而，在周五晚些时候，明尼阿波利斯市的市长雅各布·费雷在周五晚些时候表示，他反对拟议的修正案，因为它缺乏清晰度，还模糊了责任界限。他说：”如果你投票支持这个修正案，你是在投票废除警察部门，还是仅仅增加了一个官僚层？将名字更改为‘和平官员’，并给他们不同的制服？“市长还表示，新部门的负责人将向13名议员和市长报告，而不仅仅是市长，这将分散责任。费雷市长更支持对警察部门的文化进行全面改造，对警察合同进行修改，使得那些行为不端的警察更容易被解雇。市长表示，目前的警察解雇事件中，有45%会在仲裁时被推翻。

The Minneapolis City Council on Friday took the first step toward abolishing its police department and replacing it with a department of community safety and violence prevention, the latest fallout from the killing of George Floyd by a city police officer last month. The council on Friday unanimously approved sending to a public commission a proposed charter amendment that could ultimately end up on the November ballot. The proposed amendment language says the police will be replaced with a new entity that will take a “holistic, public-health oriented approach” to public safety. It says the new head of the department shouldn’t come from a law-enforcement background, but possibly from community health or restorative justice. The new department could have a division of law enforcement with licensed “peace officers,” the proposed charter language says. “No singular action is going to undo longstanding systemic oppression, racial oppression,” said Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison, one of the authors of the proposed amendment. “This is one action of many that we need to take on the road to a more equitable and just system that keeps people safe.”

Mayor Jacob Frey said later Friday that he opposed the proposed amendment for its lack of clarity and blurring of clear lines of responsibility. “Will we still have police?” he asked. “If you vote for this, are you voting to abolish the police department or is this merely a cosmetic change where you add a bureaucratic layer, you change the name to peace officer and give them different uniforms?” The mayor said he supports a full revamping of the culture of the police department by making changes to the police contract that will make it easier to fire officers who misbehave. Currently, 45% of police firings are overturned in arbitration, he said. Mr. Frey also said the new charter would diffuse responsibility since the head of public safety will report to 14 people, including the 13 council members and the mayor, instead of just the mayor.  source

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