Mayor Frey's Proposed 2023/2024 Budget for the City of Mpls Bolsters the Police Department
Written by SJ - 11/14/2022
It’s budget season! In August, Mayor Jacob Frey unveiled his proposed biennial budget for the City of Minneapolis. The city council is set to hold its second budget hearing on Tuesday, November 15th to continue reviewing Frey’s recommendations.
The proposed budget, which includes funds for both 2023 and 2024, totals $3.3 billion between the two years–$400 million of which Frey recommends be used by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
Frey’s budget proposals, including the large sum he hopes to allocate to the police, comes just months after the Minnesota Department of Human Rights released a report that acknowledged the MPD continually engaged in a pattern of “race-based policing” and discrimination.
The 2-year investigation, which was spurred by the murder of George Floyd by now-former MPD officer Derek Chauvin in 2020, found that 13 of the 14 people killed by police since 2010 have been people of color. Additionally, the MPD reportedly used force and conducted “traffic stops, searches, citations, and arrests” at a significantly higher rate when they involved people of color.
While many wanted to see the MPD defunded or dismantled after Floyd’s murder, last November voters rejected a measure to replace the MPD with a new Department of Public Safety emphasizing public health over enforcement.
Now, the number of active MPD officers has fallen from 882 two years ago, to less than 600 this year. According to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the city must employ at least 731 officers at all times. Frey’s proposed budget reflects his need to fund and recruit new officers, despite the concerns of many of his constituents.
Frey wants to add an additional $2 million to the MPD’s overtime budget to compensate for the department’s low number of recruits. He also proposed that $1.5 million go towards contracting with other agencies to support police coverage.
For 2023, Frey proposed that a one-time $740,000 go towards the creation of an internship program for high schoolers, with the hope that more young people will pursue law enforcement.
Instead of more heartily funding programs promoting community safety, public health, housing, and initiatives that would strengthen the community, Frey has chosen to strengthen a problematic and discriminatory police department.
What can I do?
We encourage you to go to the budget hearing and make a public comment in person telling Mayor Frey and the Minneapolis City Council that aggressively funding the MPD is the opposite of creating a safe and healthy city, especially for our BIPOC communities.
Take a closer look at Mayor Frey’s entire proposed biennial budget here.
Read Mayor Frey’s 2023 Budget Address here.
Here is the information for the second and third budget meetings:
Minneapolis City Council - 2nd Budget Hearing
Tues, Nov. 15th, 2022 at 6pm
City Hall / Rm 317
Minneapolis City Council - 3rd Budget Hearing
Tues, Dec. 6th, 2022 at 6pm
City Hall / Rm 317
If you cannot attend the budget hearing, consider submitting a public comment which will be read out loud and included in the public record.