Minneapolis mayoral candidates share stances on crime and policing
Minneapolis mayoral candidates weigh in on crime, policing
With less than three weeks left in the race for mayor of Minneapolis, candidates are sharing their take on the city's response to crime. FOX 9's Leon Purvis has the details.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - With less than three weeks left in the race for Minneapolis mayor, candidates made their cases during a forum at the Capri Theater.
FOX 9 spoke to each candidate about crime and policing ahead of the forum.
Minneapolis mayoral candidates' stances on policing
What they're saying:
One thing all the candidates mentioned was the need for police officers when it comes to violent crime.
But there were different opinions on how to handle non-violent crimes.
"We have fewer officers on a per-capita basis than any major city in the entire country; that is an issue. So we need to step up. We need to hire more police officers; we’re doing that right now. We need to continue that trajectory," said Incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey.
"I believe that we need peace officers, not police officers. Peace officers are people who bring peace to our community, not chaos. I believe that we do need more officers on the street and boots on the ground," said Brenda Short, candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis.
"We need all of our police, and yes, we need the police that are certainly recommended by the charter commission, but we need them to be doing what police do, uniquely what they are qualified to do, so they are not primary calls for mental health challenges. That they are not wasting their time on low-level crimes," said Dr. DeWayne Davis, candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis.
"We need to make sure that we take a holistic approach to public safety so that officers can focus on violent crime, clear the case backlogs, focus on violent crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking and that we have a more comprehensive system," said Omar Fateh, State Senator and candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis.
"First, we have to build trust both between residents and police officers that are protecting the residents as well. But it's beyond just police officers. We have to expand what we're doing from the behavioral crisis response team and other resources within that ecosystem," said Jazz Hampton, candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis.
Stance on police funding
Dig deeper:
All candidates were asked two questions: "How do we fund police, and do they need more or less funding?"
Frey and the other candidates differ on this issue.
Frey says we need more officers, while the other candidates talked about how resources are being allocated when it comes to funding.
"We need more police officers in this city. And we need to be doing the necessary work to recruit those police officers right on to the department now. When we don’t have enough police officers, we rely greatly on overtime expenses," said Frey.
"Well, we see it as an entirety of the public safety system, in which police are a piece of. That includes police, that includes an alternative to police. And so we want to make sure that we’re making good on that report from the city last year. And making sure that we’re more strategic on our approach," said Fateh.
"Police funding has continued to go up year over year in the last several years, but are we allocating it in the right places? And are we finding the folks we’re trying to hire? We need more funding for public safety, we need more police officers, we need more behavior crisis response members," said Hampton.
"The key for me is, all of those operations, that is, everyone violence interrupters, behavior crisis and response, making sure that we are funding them all so they do what they do, and not pressing police into some things they shouldn’t be doing," said Davis.
"They have already got their raise. We just need the right officers [who] want to protect and have a relationship with our community members, because if we don’t have a bond with our community members and peace officers, we can’t have a safe place called Minneapolis at all," said Short.