(KNSI) – Several state legislators and faith leaders joined Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan on Wednesday to call for legislative action on law enforcement reform.
“Yes, we’re asking to move legislation in the legislature, but I want to be very clear: that alone will not fix all of this, but it will start moving things forward,” Walz said. “It will possess the potential to protect some of our most vulnerable populations, and it will start to put on a path where real systemic change is possible.”
House Democrats, particularly members of the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus, have been on the forefront for trying to enact law enforcement reform after the deaths of George Floyd and Daunte Wright at the hands of former police officers.
Flanagan said the changes the Minnesota Legislature made in 2020 after Floyd’s death were not enough.
“We can’t wait and see if the system will resolve itself, because the same thing that keeps happening will continue to happen unless we disrupt it,” Flanagan said. “Our work is not done until everyone gets to go home safely at the end of the day, and the action that was taken last summer was a first step, not the last.”
DFL Representative Cedrick Frazier of New Hope says he is optimistic that compromise can be reached with the GOP-led Senate before the state legislature must adjourn its regular session on Monday.
“The good news is that we are in these conference committees, and the good news is that we have provided several offers to the GOP Senate,” Frazier said. “The bad news is that they have not responded to any of those offers; the bad news is also that they have provided several excuses why they have not responded to any of those offers.”
Walz also said he had faith that a compromise could be made before the end of the session.
“I remain hopeful,” Walz said. I spent the morning calling Republican senators and listening. And that’s on me — truly listening, not formulating my comeback, not already deciding what I was going to say, but being mindful in the moment and asking them ‘What can I do to help?’ so that we can make some of these movements.”
Several faith leaders spoke to the issue of police accountability and reform.
“It is increasingly evident that in the state of Minnesota, our public safety and law enforcement system does not promote justice, equity and preservation of life for our Black community,” said Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm of the Beth Jacob Congregation. “We have an opportunity now to implement a corrective to the ways in which systemic racism impacts public safety to it can become a system that keeps all of our community members safe.”
“I want to say that today, police reform, we could make it better,” said Dr. Russel A. Pointer, senior pastor at the Minneapolis Central Church of Christ. “We can make it greater. It starts with the man. It starts right here. It starts in Minnesota. This is the time. This is the place. We are the people — we got the right people, let’s do the right thing. A change must come.”
“This is not a matter of knowing what to do,” said Imam Makram El-Amin of Masjid An-Nur in Minneapolis. “It’s not even a matter of resources, per see. This is a matter of will to do, and we are encouraging the Republican-led Senate and our colleagues to come together, put together some common-sense reform.”
The Minnesota Constitution mandates that the state legislature must adjourn its regular session on the Monday following the third Saturday in May. However, with critical measures on the line like the state’s next two-year budget, lawmakers will likely continue their work in special sessions later this year.
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