Proposal to replace Minneapolis police won't be on November ballot

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A ballot measure to replace the Minneapolis Police Department following the police-involved killing of George Floyd will not appear on the ballot in November.

The Minneapolis Charter Commission voted 10-5 Wednesday to take an additional 90 days to review the proposed amendment to the city charter, meaning it would not receive approval in time for the 2020 election.

The current proposal calls for the removal of a provision of the city's charter that requires Minneapolis to maintain a police department with a minimum force based on its population and replace it with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention that would prioritize "a holistic, public health-oriented approach."

Charter Commissioner Andrew Kozak said he did not think the proposal provided enough information to voters.

"We have an obligation to make sure that what is going on the ballot gives the voters an informed choice, that they can make a decision in a thoughtful way," he said.

In June, a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council announced a plan to defund the city's police department shortly after Floyd was killed while in custody of Minneapolis police, as an officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.

City Council members sent the commission a letter on Wednesday ensuring that they "expect the transformed system to include law enforcement as part of a multi-faceted approach to public safety" in an effort to have the proposal approved.

"The Minneapolis City Council is not asking you to put police abolition on the ballot, nor does the amendment propose this," they wrote. "We are asking you to let Minneapolis vote on a new framework for public safety that aligns with the State of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety."

All four of the police officers involved in Floyd's death on Memorial Day were fired from the department and veteran officer Derek Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Keung and Tou Thao face charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.