Earlier this month the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to disband the city’s police department and replace it with a “community-led public safety system.”
Calls have swept the nation for the defunding and disbanding of police departments in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis Police Officers on May 25.
Yesterday the Minnaepolis City Council voted to defund the police force and establish a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.” The department would create a more holistic approach to neighborhood policing.
However it has been revealed that at least three city council members have hired private security for their own protection at a cost to the city of $4,500 a day.
A spokesperson for the city said the private security details have cost the city $63,000 over the past three weeks.
The council members that receive the private security are Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8), and Phillipe Cunningham (Ward 4), and Alondra Cano (Ward 9). All three have been strong proponents of the defunding the police department movement.
The members say they have received threats against them for their stance on removing the city’s police force. It’s unclear as to why the three members have opted for private security instead of a holistic approach to keep them safe in the face of those threats.