Diogenes-Light: Minneapolis City Council questions whether we need police at all

BY JACK CROWE

June 08, 2020

OCCASIONALLY, THE EVENTS OF A FEW DAYS so profoundly inflame the public that politicians are willing to consider policy reforms that would have seemed unthinkable just weeks before.

So it is with the use of police force and the civil unrest that swept the nation in the wake of George Floyd's killing by a white Minneapolis police officer. In the two weeks since officer Derek Chauvin dug his knee into Floyd's neck, America's political class — particularly Democratic politicians and liberal opinion makers taking their cues from the most radical protesters — have begun to question why and whether the nation's cities require police at all.

In Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, a veto-proof majority of the city council has signed a pledge to disband the police department and replace it with some as yet unspecified public safety system. Mayor Jacob Frey, who has said that he supports reducing the police budget and redirecting resources to minority communities, was booed off stage during a Sunday rally for expressing his opinion that Minneapolis should have a police force. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) has also expressed support for this brave new cop-less world, tweeting Friday that "it's time to disband them and reimagine public safety in Minneapolis."

In response to what he is calling a "transformative movement," Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that some of the NYPD's budget will be transferred to youth and social services. The NYPD's scope will also be slightly narrowed: Street-vendor enforcement will be transferred to a civilian agency so that code violations against food-cart operators don't require the presence of an officer.

So, de Blasio — the same man who weeks ago directed cops to drag New Yorkers out of the water at city beaches for violating social distancing guidelines — is suddenly very committed to reducing unproductive and potentially hazardous encounters between cops and New Yorkers who are just going about their business. In cities across the country, police forces that were recently being asked to clear moms from parks and arrest salon owners are being asked to use a light touch against arson and looting, all while their elected leaders debate whether their jobs should exist in the first place. In a nation where 42 percent of voters agree with using the military to augment police force in the face of riots, does that sound like a recipe for electoral success?

Veto-Proof Majority of Minneapolis City Council Signs Pledge to Dismantle Police

Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council have expressed support for defunding the city's police force, forming a veto-proof majority of the council's twelve seats.

The nine members announced their support at a Sunday rally with community activist groups and signed a pledge to dismantle the department. Notably, Mayor Jacob Frey has declined to defund the Minneapolis Police Department.

The council will "abolish the Minneapolis Police system as we know it," Council Member Alondra Cano said at the announcement. Council Member Jeremiah Ellison concurred, saying "This council is going to dismantle this police department." (Fox)

NYT Opinion Editor Resigns following Cotton Op-Ed Fallout

The editor of the New York Times opinion pages resigned following a staff revolt over the publishing of Senator Tom Cotton's (R., Ark.) op-ed calling for President Trump to use the military to put down riots in the nation's major cities.

A. G. Sulzberger, the publisher, said in a Sunday note to staff that James Bennet had resigned and his deputy, James Dao, was being reassigned to the news division at the paper. "Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we've experienced in recent years," Sulzberger explained. He said in an interview that "both of us concluded that James would not be able to lead the team through the next leg of change that is required."

Sulzberger said at a virtual staff town hall on Friday that Cotton's op-ed was "contemptuous" in tone and "should not have been published." The Times later posted an editor's note to Cotton's op-ed — which called for President Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to use the military to quell riots — explaining that his argument "fell short of our standards and should not have been published." (NYT)

New Zealand Appears to Have Completely Eradicated Coronavirus

New Zealand appears to have completely eradicated coronavirus as the last known patient in the country recovered on Monday.

There have been no new coronavirus infections in New Zealand during the past 17 days. The country has seen only around 1,500 total cases out of a population of about 5 million, helped in part by its relatively isolated location in the southern Pacific Ocean. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern placed the country on strict lockdown at the end of March, but on Monday announced the full cessation of internal restrictions.

"We can hold public events without limitations. Private events such as weddings, functions and funerals without limitations," Ardern said at a press conference. "Retail is back without limitations. Hospitality is back without limitations. Public transport and travel across the country is fully opened." (AP)

De Blasio to Transfer Some NYPD Funding to Youth Programs and Social Services

New York will redirect some portion of the NYPD budget to other initiatives in the wake of massive George Floyd demonstrations, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sunday.

The mayor did not indicate how much of the NYPD's funding would be cut. The department operated on a budget of $6 billion in 2019.

"The details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead. But I want people to understand that we are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people," de Blasio said at a press conference.

The mayor said that the city administration would adopt proposals by New York's task force on racial inclusion and equity, co-chaired by his wife Chirlane McCray, including to divert funding to social and youth services, develop community liasons to the police force, and move enforcement for street vending to a civilian agency. (CBS)