Minneapolis voters reject replacing police with new agency

STEVE KARNOWSKI and MOHAMED IBRAHIM, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis voters have rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety — an idea that arose from the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

The initiative would have changed the city charter to remove a requirement that the city have a police department with a minimum number of officers.

Supporters of the proposal said a complete overhaul of policing was necessary to stop police violence. Opponents said the proposal had no concrete plan for how to move forward and could make communities already affected by violence more vulnerable as crime is on the rise.