What Does “Build a Better Minneapolis Community Public Safety” Mean?
The current model of policing is broken and requires a fresh start and a new look. There’s not a single moment that I don’t worry about our kids and their well-being. As parents of Black and brown children, we question if our children can be children. Can they go play basketball and stay out late? Go to the movies at the mall? Or even walk alone to the store around the corner of the block we live on to buy a bag of Skittles and make it home safe?
It isn’t easy watching what happens to our Black and brown children under the current police model in Minneapolis. As constituted, the police have to protect and serve the community, but many of our children feel anything but safe when cops stop them. Parents are constantly concerned about their kids’ safety.
To understand the relationship between the police and Black and brown communities, you must understand the history of policing in this country. From slave catchers and Jim Crow laws to the present day, white supremacy has been woven into the fabric of our society. It’s manifested in our laws and in how Black and brown communities are policed. Black and brown people are more likely to be pulled over for traffic violations than white drivers. Those experiencing homelessness and people of color are often arrested on public transportation without having committed any crimes. Their crime is not being white. Last summer, the global consciousness shifted. Protests erupted all over the world from the shared experience of witnessing George Floyd being killed by Minneapolis police officers while in police custody. This did not have to happen!
What about crime?
Much of the recent surge in crime in and around Ward 9 can be attributed to the job losses and the closures of many community centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Crime has also been fueled by the closing of educational facilities. In many aspects, the pandemic has disproportionality affected Black, brown, and indigenous communities. Everything from the high numbers of deaths to the high unemployment rate has played a role in the situation we’re now in. Even essential workers have been hit hard by the pandemic. They work long hours risking their health while being paid unfairly.
The Minneapolis Police Department hasn’t made life in Ward 9 any better either. Instead, many residents feel they’ve abandoned the community by deliberately not enforcing laws. Their actions have left Ward 9 vulnerable to criminal activities. Like education, housing and healthcare, law enforcement plays a key role in keeping communities livable and safe. I would like to create new policies to restructure the way Ward 9 can benefit from new community-involved policing services.
While We Debate the Future of Policing
If elected, I will fight for a new community-involved public safety first model, that can be implemented immediately, while this is an on-going conversation about how best to proceed, for now, I’d like to propose the following:
Community Involved Public Safety
For the last 200 years, Black residents have been discriminated against and their rights have been violated by an unjust criminal justice system. To begin community-involved policing, it must be inclusive. We should hold public hearings to collect information that has been deliberately ignored. We will collectively select a task force of community leaders who are experts in the aspects of community-involved policing to help develop the new model we seek. The members of this task force are to be trained in intercultural assessments and development plans. In the development of this unique community public safety, we will work to implement the following:
- Community-involved public safety is time spent with the community.
- Community-involved public safety volunteers and public safety officers should patrol on foot or bikes in and around Ward 9 – not in military-style vehicles – to gain residents’ trust.
- Community-led first-responder teams will assist in de-escalating conflicts between officers and members of the community.
Calling 966 first, then 911
In our new community public safety model, dispatchers will be required to attend new training and follow the process for new, updated, and improved certification. This would involve training methods so that dispatchers can dissolve contentious situations before law enforcement is even dispatched to the scene. I will fight to increase accessibility and funding of youth and adult diversion programs.I will prioritize mental health, health practitioners, and social workers to work alongside community-involved public safety officers, providing services around mental health and cultural competency.
Improved Hiring Practices
Implement extensive background checks before admission into the police academy. Over 90 percent of the MPD’s officers live outside this city and this is not acceptable.
Research shows neo-Nazi and other white supremacist militia groups have infiltrated police forces. Days before the inauguration of President Biden, the FBI conducted background checks on 25,000 National Guard members to weed out white supremacists. I will work to require the same for MPD as soon as possible.
Officers need to undergo thorough psychological testing before admission to the police academy, as well as annually, throughout their employment. Community-involved police officers’ jobs are important. That’s why we will have a renewed emphasis on mental-emotional health. For our officers to be their very best for their communities, families and themselves, we have to make their overall well-being a priority.
Promote a diverse applicant pool. We must invest in programs that diversify the force, provide outreach education on community-involved policing and take a long-term approach to change the violent police culture that exists. Our commitment and focus should be on attracting more men and women of color to community-involved policing.
Research shows that when officers reflect on the communities they serve, community relations improve, and crime is reduced. But it doesn’t stop there. Many people believe diverse officers alone will improve conditions, but for those officers to be truly effective they must embody the new model of community-involved policing.
Small Business
In the aftermath of the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of MPD, the calls for peaceful protests turned violent by many alleged white supremacists. There were eyewitness accounts of suspected white supremacists instigating violence, aggression, and the destruction of many Black and brown-owned businesses, further destabilizing our community. Their actions are similar to those who carried out the seditious insurrection on our nation’s capital on January 6th. They treated Ward 9 and other Minneapolis neighborhoods inhabited mostly by Black and brown people as their training ground.
As a result, businesses were forced to close which led to higher unemployment. It further exacerbated the crime rate in our community. I’ve met with many small business owners about the current state of their businesses and the consensus is that since then, these businesses are more vulnerable to crime and have zero defense. There’s an urgent need for short-term grants to provide businesses with the necessary security to ensure their safety.
COVID-19
Our Ward 9 Black and brown-owned small businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s time to help them get back on their feet. These businesses tend to hire fellow Black and brown members. It leads to economic growth in the community by circulating the dollars spent within it. Unfortunately, the pandemic negatively affected many of these businesses forcing them to lay off many employees. I am committed to discovering ways to ensure our beloved businesses – from shops to restaurants – have what they need to weather this storm. To ensure their survival, we must pursue economic development grants, no-interest loan support, and a commercial eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, we must increase access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and fund technical business liaisons to support established and emerging businesses.
I’m committed to pushing for policies that allow these businesses greater access to the billions of dollars in contracts executed by the City of Minneapolis. I will introduce Employee Retention Grants so small businesses won’t have to lay off workers. To keep the minority-owned businesses of Ward 9 growing, I want to use some of the defunding money from MPD to help Black- and brown-owned businesses. That way, they can hire security and access zero-interest loans from $75,000 to $150,000.
Small businesses are integral to the health of our local and national economy and intrinsic to the quality of life for residents of Ward 9. The small businesses of our multicultural community create the cornerstone of the local economy. This is why I want to fight so hard for them to receive the proper recognition and assistance they need to thrive and grow.
- No interest loans for minority-owned businesses in Ward 9.
- Improved access to quick funding.
- Reduction in obstacles to obtaining financing.
- No-condition grants.
- Initiatives that encourage minority business ownership.
- Initiatives that promote the hiring of minority community members.
Uber, Lyft, and Gig Workers
Having worked part-time for Uber/ Lyft/ DoorDash, there’s a need to provide these drivers a city parking permit.
Housing
Low-income neighborhoods live under constant pressure from nearby development. The fear and paranoia of being removed are constant and suffocating. That’s why it’s vital to develop real strategies for community preservation. We will continue to work to ensure our city is affordable for all residents. Affordable housing, and being able to live and take care of yourself are basic human needs. Maintaining housing subsidies assists low-income residents to avoid homelessness. Andrew Yang said “Poverty is not cheap” and I agree. Struggling to pay rent is mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing. Children who are food insecure suffer developmentally and become less engaged in school. Poverty strips people of dignity and their potential, but I will fight because I know and see the potential in our residents and our youth, and the future of Ward 9. High-quality family-affordable homes can serve as a steppingstone, assisting families in paying down debt, saving for higher education or purchasing a home, and living the American dream.
Equal rights
If elected, I will use my office to advance equal rights for all. My own fundamental beliefs as an immigrant, as a “person of color,” are the same espoused in the foundational documents of this nation: liberty, equal justice before the law, and equal rights regardless of race, creed, or, as we now call it, identity. Although I believe the majority of us across the political spectrum hold these fundamentals dearly, sometimes Minneapolis city officials fall short of these ideals. Members of the LGBTQ community have expressed their distress as well. They’re often denied the humanity of equality and inclusion even though they’ve contributed to the character of our community. Protection, respect, and recognition for all gender identities and expressions are not “special” rights, but human rights. Our fellow community members all deserve equal rights as parents, protection from harassment, and mental and physical harm. So, instead of approaching equality as a war of identities, or a shame game, I prefer to exemplify dignity, tolerance, and love. If we see one another as members of the same family, we can become the society we dream of and desire. One that is defined by civility, character, justice, and community.
Whatever your concerns, your Ward 9 office will be open to you.