Thread by @TheoKeith

Tense meeting between Minneapolis council members and @MinneapolisPD Chief Medaria Arradondo this morning about crime spikes, lack of police response.

A thread:

@MinneapolisPD Yesterday, another 17 year old was murdered in Minneapolis. There have been 55 homicides this year, which surpassed the 48 from all of 2019.

Shootings are at a five-year high, and 400 people have been shot this year, Arradondo said.

@MinneapolisPD “If we just stayed status quo right now, we will end this year with numbers that are absolutely unconscionable,” Arradondo said.

@MinneapolisPD Multiple council members said constituents are being told by police that they won’t respond to property crimes or enforce laws in certain areas of the city without more resources.

Council Member @CunninghamMPLS: “My constituents are looking at me saying, what is MPD doing?”

@MinneapolisPD @CunninghamMPLS Council Vice President @annapoetic describes lawlessness in the area around 38th and Chicago (site of George Floyd’s deadly arrest), says people have to pay extortion money to get out of their own alleys and hear from cops it's a "no-go zone" for police response.

@MinneapolisPD .@MinneapolisPD Chief Medaria Arradondo says about 100 cops have left his agency in 2020. (Normal is 40-45 in a year.)

Yet Arradondo pushes back on narrative that there aren't enough cops to respond to crime, says he's reorganized MPD to maintain patrol staff strength at 535.

@MinneapolisPD Arradondo acknowledges the number of staff separations may rise because of the number of cops making disability claims. (FOX 9 has previously reported that number at 150. It’s unclear how many of those have left the department vs returned to work.)