Key Points
- Minneapolis rejected a measure to replace the police department.
- The proposal would have established a new department of public safety.
- The measure was rejected 56% to 44%.
‘Defund’ is dead. Minneapolis residents have rejected a measure to replace the police department with a new department of public safety by a margin of 56% to 44%.
There was a brief window, an opportune time and place, for communities and their leaders to come together in the wake of George Floyd’s death to make sensible, stat-backed police reform.
But that train has long left the station.
Progressive Dems, in what can only be described as some kind of mass hysteria, decided that police departments had too much cash and too many cops on the streets – and decided to hobble our nation’s police departments, crushing Blue morale in the process.
“That money should and can go elsewhere,” Dems thought. And so, with Floyd’s death acting as the catalyst for congress crazies to try a ridiculous public safety experiment, “Defund the Police” became a [ill-advised] rally cry for progressive squad members.
And they tried to make it a thing – they really did. But here’s the problem: it’s an incredibly bad idea and tremendously unpopular with most Americans.
According to a USA TODAY/Ipsos poll from earlier this year, only 18% of Americans supported the initiative. And while Democratic mayors tripped over themselves to appease imaginary people on Twitter by moving monies away from hardworking police officers, crime spiked nationwide. The FBI recorded a 30% surge in murders last year – the highest it’s been in six decades.
And where were the Champions of Defund?
According to Forbes, “In as many as 20 cities, mayors and other city officials enjoy the personal protection of a dedicated police security detail. This security costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year. [But] defunding of police – coupled with taxpayer dollars spent on police security details protecting public officials– only occurred in cities run by Democratic mayors.”
And let’s not forget the Super Squad’s super spending on private security.
As previously reported by The Drill Down, AOC (D-NY) has spent more than $35,000 on private security outside her borough; Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) has spent $7,500 on protection so far this year; Cori Bush (D-MI) paid personal security firms $70,000 from her campaign funds; and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) spent a few thousand in 2021 while simultaneously denigrating police departments.
Hypocrites, every one of them. And it’s more blatantly obvious than ever.
Defund the Police: Born in Minneapolis 2020. Died in Minneapolis 2021. Now, maybe we can have real conversations about reforming our police departments and creating safer communities for our citizens.
