The death of the “gentle giant” Floyd did not prompt the voters of Minneapolis – the scene of the African American’s murder – to dismantle the police department and replace it with a new division for public safety focused more on well-being, including mental, and social services.
The American city has in fact rejected the referendum which asked to cancel the police department and replace it with a new Department for Public Security focused more on well-being, including mental and social services. The idea was born on the wave of the Black Lives Matter movement, resulting from the protests over the death of George Floyd, the African American suffocated by a policeman during his arrest in May 2020 in Minneapolis.
Proponents were convinced that comprehensive police reform was needed to stop police violence against African Americans. But critics argued that the proposal did not contain a concrete plan and that in any case it would have left the city adrift, one of the most violent in the country and where the crime rate is increasing.