I congratulate Mr. Vreeland and the SNG for their efforts to create
constructive dialogue regarding the Mpls. Police Dept. I was involved years
back when we finally got the Civ.Review Bd. established, albeit without
subpoena power, a glaring omission. Unfortunately it took the deaths of
several individuals to convince the Council to take action.
We've already had at least 2 deaths fairly recently, where the police's
response seems, to someone looking from the outside, quite out of proportion
to the dangers posed. I don't know what happened, or what was in the minds
of the officers at the time -- but surely, as Vreeland notes, we can find a
method short of publicly funded killing to deal with these situations.
Again, keep it up, SNG. I hope other community groups, from ALL around the
city, can work together to develop dialogue. I agree that our best chance
for real change comes from an honest conversation, not "highlighting
conflict", although we can't ignore the factors which feed community
frustrations.
So: it has been rumored that the Mayor's office participates in this
list --- how about it? Here's a chance for you to answer the SNG -- and the
rest of us. I promise that I'll do my best to keep my ears & mind open --
give me something to listen to!
---original message----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 13:39:47 EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Mpls] Solutions versus rhetoric
--part1_f.11967ba8.27eba0f3_boundary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
It is so refreshing to see people rolling up their sleeves and really
working to solve a problem, especially a difficult problem that is so
polarizing and complex as racial profiling. In Metro section of Tuesday's
startribune there is an article about progress in St. Paul profiling talks.
There was a meeting of officials from the NAACP, Police Chief Finney and
other top police officials, and representatives from the St. Paul Police
federation. The meeting was mediated by the U.S. Justice dept. community
resource service. According to the strib reporter, Nathaniel Khaliq head of
the St. Paul NAACP said, " We agreed to reach an agreement." The article by
Heron Marquez Estrada includes-Federal mediator says all parties are making
progress.
In Minneapolis we are not generally having the kind of conversations that
will lead to an understanding of how to change and improve the relationship
between police and citizens. The code 4 meetings are an example of big
public
meetings that will highlight conflict and concerns without having much of a
chance of real dialogue about why and how we could do things differently.
I have tried to use this forum to discuss these issues and sent a letter to
the chief about developing a structure for finding a shared vision and an
understanding of the mission of the Police dept.
The Seward Neighborhood Group and the community building committee have
contacted the chief and the Mayor about these issues and asked for a
response. After two months there has been no response from the chief or the
mayor.
Scott Vreeland Ward 2 Seward
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
