Addressing the City Council's vote to request Federal Mediation between Police and certain communities Rachael Lewis writes:
>"This story needs to get more exposure. When a community is so embattled with >its own police force that the city council itself voluntarily calls in feds to >rebuild some semblance of credible order, that is serious news that people need >to be kept informed about." The reason the Minneapolis City Council voted to do "call in the Feds" is because of the "Exposure" it has already received. The City council was simply playing or pandering to political correctness because of a problem largely built through media and forums such as this. I wonder if the City Council will be just as willing to call for Federal Mediation about the City's unwillingness to supply equal protection under the law for poor communities of color in the inner city. Some neighborhoods are thinking of taking action in Federal Court because these communities do not receive enough or even close to adequate police protection. This weekend Franklin and Chicago to I-35 was filled with drug dealers and very few police. Criminals are allowed to publicly sell drugs and police are not addressing the problem. Why? I believe it is because the City Council and Mayor do not deem these neighborhoods important enough to spend the necessary resources to defend them. Of course the present Council and Mayor are only carrying on a pattern established by the last two administrations. I guess you might label it a pattern. The Cops who are there do a fine job, and are overworked, there is simply too few of them. Judges also apply the law differently. If you are victimizing school areas in Minnetonka or Linden Hills you will be treated far differently than you will in the school zones along Franklin Avenue. Hennepin County Judges routinely let the drug dealers arrested on Franklin and the North side go with a slap on the hand, as if victimizing our children and neighborhoods is somehow less of a crime. Some say it is because they are caught in a Drug Reserve Area, the judges practice "Catch and Release". Yes, I believe a little FEDERAL MEDIATION is in order. So, Councilpersons Zimmerman, Schiff, and Lillegren, (the representatives from my area, North-siders need to call on your own), when are you going to pass a resolution calling for Federal Mediation on this issue? Or is it just not politically correct enough? Also, we in the impacted neighborhoods would like to have Federal Mediation to stop the discrimination against poor neighborhoods that presently occurs when the City of Minneapolis differentially applies Zoning and Regulatory functions. The City has certain obligations under Holman, but is still willing to ignore State Law and its own ordinance by the concentration of social services and supportive housing in a few "Impacted Neighborhoods". Instead of Federal Law Suites wouldn't it be better to call for Federal Mediation to end the institutional pattern of discrimination the City of Minneapolis has engaged in. Yes, since the City is calling in Federal Mediation, lets mediate some other cases of clear and present discrimination. Jim Graham, Ventura Village _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
