Vowing to earn back the trust of the community, today Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced that the MPD would immediately suspend contract negotiations with the police union until the federation agrees to “forward-looking” reform measures and a top-to-bottom review of the existing contract.
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Chief Arradondo also committed to implementing a real-time, evidence-based warning and intervention system rooted in research from the University of Chicago on police behavior.
Arradondo applauded the community involvement in recording police misconduct like the cell phone-recorded fatal arrest of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.
While Arradondo said community involvement is key to reforming the police department, he said he was not in favor of defunding the MPD, in response to the announcement by nine city council members who this week announced plans to defund the department.
“We don’t just need a new contract with the police,” said Frey in a statement, “We need a new compact between the people of Minneapolis and the people trusted to protect and serve—and we need to go farther than we ever have in making sweeping structural reform.”