Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo came out swinging Wednesday about the upcoming ballot question that would remove the police department and replace it with a department of public safety.
Not mincing words, Arradondo said Minneapolis is at a critical point of public safety, down a third of its sworn officers, and forced to ask much more of the officers who remain.
“To vote on a measure of reimagining public safety without a solid plan and an implementation or direction of work, this is too critical of a time to wish and hope for that help that we need so desperately right now,” Arradondo said. “And again, I was not expecting some sort of robust, detailed word for word plan. But at this point, quite frankly, I would take a drawing on a napkin.”
Arradondo says he was not consulted about the ballot question and says having a “holistic approach” to public safety, as the ballot question aims to do, does not require a drastic change in the city charter.
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Spelling out several reasons why he does not support Question 2, which would replace the Minneapolis police department with an overarching Department of Public Safety which "could" include police officers if necessary, Arradondo laid out a hypothetical situation on how the measure could impact hiring at a time when the force is down by a third according to estimates.
“There has been a ballot measure that has just passed and it says you might be necessary,” Arradondo lays out in a hypothetical. “You might be, at some point. Does that give you confidence as a possible employee to join this department? People have to think the long game here. We do not need, in my opinion, a ballot measure to do some of the things that people are asking about.”
The chief also would not comment on whether or not he'll stay on past January when his current contract is up.
Wednesday, St. Paul Chief of Police Todd Axtell did announce he won’t be returning when his term ends next summer.
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