This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by the distinguished retired judge, John H. Wilson
There is a popular parody of the typical advertisement for action movies which begins, “In a world gone mad…” or words to that effect. Lately, for many of us, it may feel as if that parody has come to life.
As a direct result of the “protests” which spread across the world in the wake of the death of George Floyd, more than one municipality has decided that “defunding” their police department and curtailing enforcement of various public order laws is necessary to bring a halt to police brutality. Let us see how that policy is working across the nation.
In Minneapolis, the City Council has proposed an ordinance which seeks to replace the Police Department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention Department.” This new Department will ” have responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach,” with a Director who “will have non-law enforcement experience in community safety services, including but not limited to public health and/or restorative justice approaches.”
While this proposal, unanimously approved by the Minneapolis City Council, must be reviewed by a public commission before it can be added to the next ballot for approval by the voters, many of those voters decided to put into practice the philosophy of the Minneapolis City Council in advance.
As a homeless encampment grew in size in Powderhorn Park, which is located within the City of Minneapolis, “residents there have vowed to avoid calling the cops, feeling that doing so could put people of color in danger. But now with hundreds of outsiders flooding the park — drawing in more car traffic, including drug dealers, and resulting in at least two overdoses — the neighbors are facing a moral dilemma.” In fact, since the homeless have made Powderhorn Park their home, among a host of other crimes, three rapes have been reported in the span of two weeks.
As one resident of the area stated, while discussing the increase in crime, “We’re all liberals…We’re all sympathetic and would love for these people to have dignified housing and to get the social services that the city, the state, the county is failing to support. But this is not the answer.”
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Much like Chicago, Minneapolis has seen a recent increase in gun violence. The reason? “Minneapolis police have stopped making as many street stops as they made previously.”
Speaking of Chicago, while Mayor Lori Lightfoot has not expressly supported defunding the police, her intentions appear to be the same – “what I believe what we’re really talking about is what I ran on, and why it’s so important that we follow through on a commitment to the investments in black and brown neighborhoods that haven’t seen any investment, truly, in decades,” she said …“What people are saying, I think, is in too many communities across our city, particularly black and brown Chicago, what they see every day is a manifestation of government is the police…”
And how is this philosophy working out in the Windy City? “Six months into the year, 329 people have been killed in Chicago, an increase of about 34% from the 246 homicides during the same period last year, according to police. Shootings in that period rose by about 42%, from 978 in 2019 to 1384 in 2020. Shootings across the city increased by 75% last month alone, with 424 shootings in June 2020 compared to 242 in June 2019, according to police statistics. Murders in Chicago rose by 78%, with 89 reported in June 2020 compared to 50 in the same month last year.”
The Report Concludes Tomorrow
Illustration: Pixabay