One of America’s most left-wing cities, where the ignoble Defund the Police movement had its genesis, voted Tuesday on what its law enforcement would look like in the future.
And using common sense over hatred, Minneapolis voters decided to enhance safety and keep the police force.
About 57% of the roughly 150,000 voters said no to eliminating the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
Minneapolis voters rejected a proposal to replace the city's Police Department, crushing the hopes of supporters that outrage over the killing of George Floyd would translate into one of the nation's most far reaching experiments in transforming safety. https://t.co/uqLGFWqfei
— Liz Navratil (@LizNavratil) November 3, 2021
Three of the state’s leading Democrats — U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Gov. Tim Walz — opposed the vague ballot question that could have replaced the MPD with a new public safety agency, but tellingly did not campaign to defeat the measure. Klobuchar found time, however, to campaign for the losing Democrat candidate for Virginia governor.
The two most prominent anti-police radicals in Minneapolis politics actively tried to endanger residents. And they failed.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, both devout leftists critical of law enforcement, worked to see the bigoted measure pass.
Related: Minneapolis Voters to Decide Whether to Defund Police
Omar, who enjoys expensive private security, has numerous times sought to “dismantle” her city’s police.
The MPD entered 2020 with a $193 million budget, enough to employ 900 officers. After rogue activists pressured city leaders to trim spending, the department began 2021 with only a $164 million budget. Police ranks plunged amid retirements, departures, and disability claims for PTSD, among other issues. Now the total number of active Minneapolis officers has dropped to under 600 from 853 in 2019.
Last year marked the second deadliest in city history, and homicides this year have already outpaced the number committed last year, even though Minneapolis saw a dramatic increase in homicides last summer amid riots that destroyed parts of the city.
Locals breathed a sign of relief with Tuesday’s vote.
“There were 16 carjackings in Minneapolis, almost all at gunpoint, just since Friday,” Dan Becker told PJ Media Tuesday. “Crime in my neighboring town was up 40% last year, and is going to be well beyond that even in 2021. Urban flight, with businesses in the cities still operating at much less than full capacity, and remote work, is sure to continue. People are realizing what a disaster the decades’ long stranglehold of Democrat control of the urban centers and their horrible policies have wrought.”
Pre-election polls actually showed most Black voters — about 20% of the population — wanted more police officers, compared to only half of voters overall.
It makes sense that the hardest-hit communities want more police protection. Woke elites, safely ensconced in their gated downtown high rises, can afford to be dangerously naïve.
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