Reply to Ward 4 Councilmember race Todd vs. newcomer Janeese Lewis George

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Reply to "Ward 4 Councilmember race Todd vs. newcomer Janeese Lewis George"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]Has she made any statement about the movement to defund police that is gaining steam nationwide?  Minneapolis just announced that a veto proof majority of its council supported defunding the police.  I wonder if we could ever reach that point here.[/quote]

Support for many of the policies covered under the “defund police” slogan was a major part of her campaign. She was attacked for holding those positions. [/quote]

[b]Sure, but do you know whether she has actually used or embraced the “defund” or “disband” rhetoric?[/b]

Obviously exactly what this language means for concrete policies varies by different advocates, but I think using such “radical” language - rather than just putting forth policy proposals - helps send a stronger message in terms of her worldview and how she will approach policies broadly.[/quote]

I can't verify the accuracy, but this was a summary of her views posted on our listserv a few weeks ago:

Last October, Janeese said by Twitter:

[b]I will absolutely divest from MPD and put that money into violence interruption programs.

Full stop.[/b]

And in response to a comment, she added:

[b]What I mean is that I would redirect some of the $550 million in funding that is currently allocated for policing toward violence prevention and other violence interruption programs that are run by agencies other than MPD.[/b]

More recently, at the Ward 4 candidates’ forum, Janeese was asked, “Do you support efforts to demilitarize and disarm our police departments?”  She answered:

[b]We’re told the institution of policing is intended to protect all of us from some suspicious menace, but the fact is that crime is a public health problem, not a battle of military opponents. The transformation of American police departments, especially the MPD, into military units trained to occupy the very communities promised protection is one of the greatest dangers to the future of urban life.[/b][/quote]

It'll be very interesting to see how much of the $550 million should be redirected.[/quote]

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