Council advances plan to dismantle Minneapolis Police Dept.

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and AMY FORLITI Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis City Council has unanimously voted to advance a plan that could one day do away with the city’s police department, following protests and unrest over the killing of George Floyd. The council voted Friday in favor of a proposal to amend the city charter to replace the current department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention” that would prioritize a “holistic” and “public-health oriented” approach. Several more bureaucratic obstacles would remain for the proposal to make it onto the November ballot, where Minneapolis residents would have the final say. Recent shootings in the area have heightened concerns about talk of eliminating police.