Seven City Council hopefuls and two mayoral candidates say in a local voter guide that they can envision a future Minneapolis with no police.
Asked, “Do you believe that we could ever have a city without police?” two mayoral candidates and two incumbents and five serious challengers running for City Council answered “yes.”
Those candidates, who responded to the question for a voter guide compiled by the nonprofit Voices for Racial Justice and published with Pollen Midwest and Rhymesayers Entertainment, said Wednesday they do not plan to eliminate the police department. Instead, several said, they were describing an ideal future in which inequality and racism are eliminated and government policy has solved many of the social problems now handled by police arresting and imprisoning people.
“It’s aspirational, but it’s way aspirational,” said Council Member Lisa Bender, who said yes to the question. “We have a very long way to go before we would approach public safety without police.”
