For days now the Readers Write section of the Star Tribune has been a series of people patting themselves on the back for bravely standing up in favor of police, talking about how the majority are well intentioned and good-natured and how we should not rush to judgment or overreaching reforms motivated by "magical thinking."
I do not disagree with these points on paper, but the reality for young people is that we are exhausted by people constantly opining about how any push for change is too hasty and any societal criticism is too broad. The fact that the Minneapolis City Council can only provide us with a vague and uncertain ballot initiative in the face of a year's worth of calls for reform says that people in power just aren't ready to take this seriously.
People are dying because we aren't actually looking at the core of how we approach safety and justice. Tearing it all down without a plan is not the solution, but neither is simply throwing more money at a Police Department that has lost all credibility among the young people of the city. When the number of police officers goes up, I don't feel any safer. I just feel frustrated that this is the best we could come up with when the status quo is causing so much pain.
Max Ritter, Minneapolis
•••
Matt Mackowiak's Aug. 24 commentary ("Our city defunded its police. Don't make the same mistake," Opinion Exchange) fails to make the case that more police means better public safety. He argues that serious crime has risen in Austin, Texas, since the Police Department has been unable to fill all of its shifts and since some funding has moved to non-police priorities such as domestic violence services. But serious crime has risen in almost every major city in the U.S., regardless of police staffing levels. It's a manifestation of broken systems and racial and economic disparities compounded by the social trauma of the pandemic. And it's an indication that we need to try a different way to address these chronic issues.
Mackowiak seems to suggest that unhoused people are a significant part of this problem. But we know that the solution to homelessness is not more policing and restricting public spaces, but an expansion of the safety net infrastructure that would address the real problems that keep people living on the streets and in the parks. The proposed public safety charter amendment would allow Minneapolis to shift the interactions with people experiencing homelessness, mental health crises and opioid addiction to unarmed professionals who would have the training and the resources to assist them. It would also expand violence prevention efforts within communities. In this vision for public safety, licensed police officers would focus on serious and violent crime. It is not a good use of taxpayer dollars to have armed officers show up to take a report of a bike stolen from an unlocked garage, but that is what happens in the current system where the city charter requires employing 1.7 officers for every 1,000 residents.
If we have the courage to broaden our vision of public safety beyond policing, we can work toward becoming a city where everyone truly feels safe regardless of race, gender, income or ZIP code.
