Minneapolis Mayor: Must Be a ‘Full Rethinking and Reshaping’ of the Way Police Do Business’

During a town hall on MSNBC on Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said there must be a “full rethinking and reshaping of the way that our police department does business” and improper behavior should be abolished, but “We don’t need to be abolishing the police.” And cities “including Minneapolis, need law enforcement.”

Frey said that he’s “on the side of massive, structural change. And I think, right now, we need to be heeding the calls of George Floyd’s family. And they said, clearly, that George Floyd is going to change the world. This can’t be half-measures. This can’t just go halfway. This can’t be minor policy changes. This needs to be a full rethinking and reshaping of the way that our police department does business that has, for decades, harmed black and brown people.”

Frey expressed his support for things like “decriminalizing addiction,” increasing affordable housing and health care, “being open to other strategies beyond policing” like mental health co-responders and social workers.

He added, “But if we’re talking about just abolishing all law enforcement, no. Cities around the country, including Minneapolis, need law enforcement. We need to abolish the behavior. We don’t need to be abolishing the police.”

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