Thread by @PeterMoskos

What makes me sad is that I knew this would happen. Not just me. Others, too. It was entirely predictable. Slogans and sociological theory don't prevent violence. Policy and policing based on evidence and proven research-based strategies do. washingtonpost.com/national/minne…

If you can't or don't want to click through, some excerpts:
"Minneapolis police have faced a surge of officer departures in the wake of Floyd’s death and the outcry against police."

"In June, a city council majority vowed to defund and dismantle the department and replace it with a new agency focused on a mix of public safety and violence prevention — a move that could go before voters in 2021."

"Homicides in Minneapolis are up 50 percent, with nearly 75 people killed across the city so far this year. More than 500 people have been shot, the highest number in more than a decade and twice as many as in 2019."

"On Friday, the city council voted to allocate nearly $500,000 for the police department to temporarily hire officers from neighboring law enforcement agencies to help patrol city streets."

"'Since the unjustified and unfortunate death of George Floyd, the city council has engaged in rhetoric that has emboldened criminals, the proof of which is in the unprecedented spike in crime,' said George Saad of southwest Minneapolis."

"'You guys have had years to address any culture problems within the Minneapolis PD. You have failed to do so. Instead, you embark on a campaign against your own police department, fighting and demonizing an entire internal city organization instead of making it better.'"

Forbes "told council members how bullets burst through her living room wall on a recent night, narrowly missing her head. She blamed the city council for pursuing what she described as a 'sociology experiment that obviously doesn’t work.'"

"'If you want to talk about pandemics, we’re dealing with a pandemic of violence,' Spann, a longtime community activist, said on a recent afternoon, just as word came of two more nearby shootings. 'We’re under siege. . . . . And our city has failed to protect us.'"

"She worries about the lasting trauma on the community — how it might manifest in children who have been shot and survived and what effect gunfire and the fear of getting struck by bullets is having. 'What is this doing to us as a community, as human beings?'"

"'Why can’t I have police reform? Why can’t I have law and order? Why do I have to pick and choose? I should be able to have both.... The city has failed us,' Spann said."