Minneapolis business owners reel at reduced police budget
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TOPSHOT – Protesters gather in front of a liquor store in flames near the Third Police Precinct on May 28, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during a protest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. – A police precinct in Minnesota went up in flames late on May 28 in a third day of demonstrations as the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul seethed over the shocking police killing of a handcuffed black man. The precinct, which police had abandoned, burned after a group of protesters pushed through barriers around the building, breaking windows and chanting slogans. A much larger crowd demonstrated as the building went up in flames. (Photo by kerem yucel / AFP) (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:10 PM PT – Friday, December 11, 2020
Business owners say they feel unsafe as the city of Minneapolis continues to make changes to their police department.
The Minneapolis City Council’s decision to slash $8 million from the police department has some business owners reeling at the possible consequences of the move.
“I have seen our community and our workforce and our leadership at the city really…in a completely new way, understand the city’s role of every single person…in creating a city that is just,” Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender noted. “And that is equitable and that is safe.”
Flora Westbrooks, the owner of a hair salon, had her business burned to the ground in May due to “civil unrest,” according to her ‘Go Fund Me‘ page. She owned the salon for four decades before the George Floyd riots destroyed her business.
According to Friday’s reports, Westbrooks said she doesn’t feel safe and emphasized the community needs the protection of the police. She also noted that many people she knows do not support the idea of defunding the police department.
Westbrooks and other business owners called the city out for not helping them recover from the damages that occurred during the violent riots.
This came as crime rates continue to skyrocket in Minneapolis with carjackings up 331 percent. According to data from the city’s police department, the number of gunshot victims has nearly doubled when compared to this time last year.
On Thursday, the city council approved the ‘Safety for All’ budget plan for 2021, which will allocate millions of dollars away from the police budget in order to fund mental health and violence prevention programs.
