The Minnesota State Supreme Court struck down a lower court’s rulings and will allow a ballot measure to appear on ballots in the city of Minneapolis that would take significant steps to rebuilt the way the Minneapolis Police Department is organized, operated and overseen, NPR reports.
Sparked by the “Defund the Police” movement that took center stage last summer, the Minneapolis measure would remove a provision in the city’s charter that a Police Department must be formed and funded. Instead, the measure would allow the city leaders to reform and re-envision police operations to be handled by teams of police officers, social workers and health care professionals.
The goal is for public safety officers to take a fresh look at fulfilling their duties to the city’s residents without relying on armed officers to being the primary contact on most calls.
As NPR reports, opponents of the amendment, including former council member Don Samuels and his wife, Sondra, said the ballot language leaves too many important questions unexplained for voters about how the new department would be implemented, led, staffed and funded.