Months after caving to riotous mobs, the members of the Minneapolis City Council are complaining about the city’s crime surge and insisting they never really meant it when they voted to defund the police department.
Councilman Phillipe Cunningham says the defunding measure is “up for interpretation,” the New York Times reports, and now the council’s majority has “interpreted that language differently.”
Council President Lisa Bender claims, “Our pledge created confusion.” Maybe she’s confused, since she’d earlier been accusing cops of intentionally avoiding making arrests or otherwise enforcing laws.
Indeed, much of the council complained to Police Chief Medaria Arradondo about the rise in carjackings, robberies, assaults and shootings. “Residents are asking, ‘Where are the police?’ ” noted Councilman Jamal Osman, saying citizens “rely on MPD. And they are saying they are nowhere to be seen.”
Arradondo, while vowing “to be responsive,” said about 100 officers have quit or taken leaves of absence, more than twice the usual rate. (He didn’t bother blaming the council’s defunding vote.)
Just as in New York, the residents of Minneapolis are learning that “violence interrupters” are no help: To keep the peace, you need police.