The Minneapolis Police Department is suffering from historically low staffing shortages as it deals with the lowest level of uniformed personnel in four decades, according to the Star Tribune.
The city department has only 585 sworn officers and, of 22 cities, has the lowest officer-to-population ratio, the Tribune reported.
The Minneapolis Police Department has also leaned on other law enforcement partners, as well as civilian analysts, to help with some of its work.
In recent years, Minneapolis has experienced the worst police personnel shortage in the United States.
“This is absolutely unsustainable,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told the outlet. “Thank God for all these other agencies that are filling this void.”
MPD also has too few officers to restart its “community engagement unit,” which is seen as a way to build trust between police and the community.
A police officer walks forward as people protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police outside the White House in Washington, DC.AFP via Getty Images
President Biden signs an executive order to reform federal and local policing on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in Washington, DC, May 25, 2022. REUTERS
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara talks about how his department will comply with the Justice Department’s investigation at a news conference, as Attorney General Merrick B. Garland (left) looks on. Star Tribune via Getty Images
“It’s unfortunate, but that’s what goes away first,” O’Hara told the outlet. “We’re never going to change people’s perception of us, and we’re never going to build meaningful relationships with people, if all we do is respond from one emergency to the next.”
Some days, just four officers are responsible for patrolling large areas of the city, the Tribune reported.
Minneapolis voters rejected a measure in 2021 that would have replaced the MPD with a Department of Public Safety, which came up for a vote following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Protesters march across the Brooklyn Bridge over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police during a Juneteenth demonstration in New York on June 19, 2020. AFP via Getty Images
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland addresses the findings of a Department of Justice investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department during a press conference in Minneapolis, MN, on June 16, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Protesters can be seen together crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to protest the death of George Floyd. AFP via Getty Images
The Justice Department announced in June that a police department investigation following Floyd’s death found evidence of excessive force and racial discrimination.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the MPD and the city of Minneapolis engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn