The Civilian Police Accountability Commission met on Wednesday to discuss the need for more civilian oversight in the Minneapolis Police Department.
Jae Yates from the Minneapolis community control for police said that the situation has gone too far.
“The police force has been nothing more than a legalized gang meant to keep us afraid and in line,” Yates said. “We are saying that this reign of terror is over.”
Today, they delivered over 10,000 signatures to the city clerk to establish a commission to essentially regulate the police.
“It is time that the city had a fair, genuine, and needed commitment to police oversight,” advocate Stacey Gurian-Sherman said at the press conference.
Once the signatures are verified, the process will move forward.
If approved, they would have hiring and firing power over officers. They would also investigate every complaint made against the Minneapolis Police Department and publish their findings.
“We have been fueled by the support of thousands of people who have seen the brutality visited on communities of working-class people in our city who said yes to substantive permanent change that takes the power out of the hands of cops and puts it into the hands of the people,” Yates said.