A former Minneapolis city council member is calling on current leaders to step up and do the right thing to stop gun violence that is now affecting the lives of children.
This comes after the Monday night shooting of a pre-teen girl, the third child to be stuck by gunfire in recent weeks.
Pastor Brian Herron told WCCO's Susie Jones that city council has basically neutralized the MPD by moving to defund the agency
"Our city council has to get their head out of the sand, it has to wake up," Herron said. "They have to transition from community activism to being statespersons and policymakers, and really take a look at what's going on, and then begin to act."
Herron, pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Minneapolis, praised Minneapolis police chief Maderia Arradondo as someone who believes in transforming policing, as well as the culture of the MPD.
"Defunding the police was not the way to go without a conversation with our chief, and without a conversation with our community," Herron said, adding that reducing the number of police officers and low morale on the MPD is one reason for an escalation of violence.
"It's not just a police issue, it's a community issue," he said. "We, in this community, have to begin to address this issue."
One thing that Herron said needs to be done is identifying who is doing the shooting to help police make arrests.
Too often, people are unwilling to name names for various reasons, including possible retaliation.
"It's not snitching, it's saving lives," Herron said. "If you know who's doing this, you must tell."
