The Minneapolis City Council voted to cut the Minneapolis Police Department’s communications division during its Budget Committee discussion Wednesday. The ultimate goal is to have the city’s communications department handle all emergency calls.
According to the proposal, the city’s communications department will assume police department communications under two separate plans of action. In one, calls categorized as “Theft-Report Only” will be fully transitioned by December 1st of this year. In another, “Emotionally Disturbed Persons (EDP)” and “Report-Only” calls will be transferred starting 2021.
The Council also voted to cut the Communications & Video Coordinator and the Director of Public Information positions from the police department. These proposals raised some concerns within the community.
A day before the meeting, The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists (MSPJ) submitted a letter to the Council requesting a delay of the voting until journalists and members of the public could discuss with the Council what the proposal would entail.
“Our primary concern is that the city’s communications department is not suited to this role. An effective PIO [Public Informations Officer] must have the trust of both police officers and journalists,” the MSPJ wrote. “We are also concerned that repositioning police communications will take away the autonomy that the PIO role allows.”
The Council went ahead with the meeting without public input, later posting the meeting online.
This proposal meets the Council’s express desire “to examine alternative responses to police,” according to their website. The Council based their plans of action on the findings of the 911/MPD Work Group, created to discovering shortcomings in policing.
According to data collected by the workgroup from July 2017 to July 2019, an estimated 20,000 calls lingered past goal response times in the police department’s dispatch system without available officers — over 5% of total calls analyzed. City staff and community members comprised the group, with representatives from the police department, 911 operatives, the fire department, the Office of Violence Prevention, and the City Attorney’s office.
The Council also passed motions to grant almost $1.5 million to various city initiatives, including advancing racial equity efforts, improving record-keeping, erecting a George Floyd memorial, expanding the city communications department, and implementing “violence interruption.” Approximately 93% of those funds were appropriated from the police department.
Council President Lisa Bender (Ward 10) mentioned during the meeting that ineffective communications between city and police was another factor behind their vote.
“I know the police department does not report to the City Council, but we often learn about information through the media. We’re asked questions from members of the public or the press about statements that MPD is making without background information. In the past, I have felt that the communications from the department don’t reflect the direction that policymakers have given.”
The proposal is still under mayoral review.
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Corinne Murdock is a contributor at The Minnesota Sun. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Minneapolis Police Officer” by Tony Webster. CC BY 2.0.
