John, This morning’s CNN story outlining the public safety crisis in Minneapolis details what we have all been feeling these past few years. It also goes in-depth on the divide over public safety that exists within Hennepin County and the Democratic Party.
"Last year, progressives touted a ballot measure that was said to be a referendum on the 'defund' concept. Question 2, as it was known locally, would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a new 'public health-oriented' Department of Public Safety and removed a minimum staffing requirement from the city charter.
It failed in November, with 56% of voters rejecting it. That figure was 61% in north Minneapolis, a pair of neighboring city wards where Blacks make up a strong plurality of the roughly 66,000 residents. All but one of the 17 precincts in the north voted against the measure." —CNN, September 25, 2022
Though we are both Democrats who believe in criminal justice reform, there are stark differences between myself and my opponent on policing and public safety. I live in North Minneapolis and have experienced the increase in violent crime right outside my door. I’ve watched wonderful families leave my neighborhood for Brooklyn Park and Golden Valley because of the violence. And I believe that addressing the recent rise in crime should not come after other political priorities. It is an existential threat and it is our job as county attorney to hold perpetrators of this violence accountable. We have been falling short.
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We are in a public safety crisis. We’ve lost more than a third of our police department in Minneapolis. In the wake of an unprecedented spike in violent crime, my top priority will be ensuring survivors receive justice. My opponent listed her top priority in last week’s article by The Economist as “holding police accountable,” with no mention of rectifying violent crime. We need law enforcement as our justice partners if we’re going to get justice for victims. That’s why I am a proponent of reform and additional funding, not defunding the police.
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We need to make decisions based on what’s right for the community. I’m not going to allow extremists, police officers or anyone else to tell my office who or how we need to prosecute. We've been focusing on how to give violent offenders a break for long enough. It's time for a new leader who will focus on giving communities a break. That is why my office will base decisions solely on the law, evidence, and the facts of the case. Not public pressure.
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As a former Northside community prosecutor and a serious crimes judge, public safety is my profession. As someone who lives in North Minneapolis and has felt the effects of the rise in violence in my neighborhood, it’s my life. I am disturbed by the imbalance in outcry over horrible, unlawful police shootings because that same anger doesn’t mirror the scale of the current community violence. We’re losing adults and children on a weekly basis to this violence. Where are the protesters then? Those are Black lives that are also very important to me, my neighbors, and my community. As a leader, I am outraged both by police misconduct and community violence. We need a county attorney who does not have tunnel vision on these issues.
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