Seven months ago the department of public safety stated that they would be “ending the Minneapolis Police Department.” Their first proposal to make this statement a reality was blocked by the Charter Commission. Now they have released a second proposal to keep this promise. This proposal will eliminate the department but keeping the police.

9th grader Arden Lillemoe said, “I do not know what to think, last time that the City Council made a proposal it never went through, so I do not want to get my hopes up.”

This proposal includes an amendment that will eliminate the required minimum number of police officers in different cities. The decision of the number of police who would be hired for the department would be completely up to the major and the City Council. If any of these actions were to take place the decision for these actions would be ultimately up to the voters. Council members Phillipe Cunningham, Steve Fletcher and Jeremy Schroeder said at the Thursday meeting that they hoped the change would allow the city to take a more holistic approach to public safety.

Junior Zelda Harmoning said, “I hope that this proposal will go through. It is definitely not enough but it will at least be something. I feel like this city needs something.”

Mayor Jacob Frey said he supports the idea of having a bigger approach to public safety yet he still has concerns that this plan would diminish the accountability for the department itself. Yet the Council members argue the opposite, they say that the Police Department would be held just as accountable as other city departments.