Thread by @bopinion

Barbed wire
Concrete berms
Heavy fencing

This is what rings the government building where former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin will be tried, starting this week, over the death of George Floyd last May trib.al/jFphgXc

Across the street is city hall. Three floors up is Mayor Jacob Frey.

Last summer, Frey, a 39-year-old elected in 2017, appeared to be in peril. Conservatives mocked him for being weak; local progressives lambasted him for not committing to their agenda trib.al/jFphgXc

Yet nine months later, on the verge of Chauvin’s trial, Minneapolis is still heavily fortified to repel trouble.

In the place where the “abolish the police” slogan got its most vivid expression, the movement may end up meeting a more modest end trib.al/jFphgXc

Minnesota has long been plagued by racial disparities in policing.

“When the chief or I fire somebody, or discipline them ... 50% of the time they get sent right back to the police department,” Frey told @AdamMinter trib.al/jFphgXc

When Black residents watched Chauvin press a knee into Floyd’s neck last May, they may not have known that 18 complaints had been filed against the officer.

But they were certainly aware that the police department had enabled misconduct trib.al/jFphgXc

“Every additional hour of overtime worked, the likelihood of use of force goes up,” Frey says.

"So it’s a total misnomer that you get rid of police officers and somehow use of force or police violence goes down.” trib.al/jFphgXc

Frey is broadly supportive of efforts to boost nonviolent public safety, including the deployment of additional:

➡️Social workers
➡️Mental-health responders
➡️Hospital-based efforts that connect victims of violence to support trib.al/jFphgXc

Frey is confident that he and the city are on the right path.

After one of the most tumultuous years in Minneapolis history, it’s crucial that he’s right trib.al/jFphgXc