Distrust of the Minneapolis Police, and Also the Effort to Defund Them

Minneapolis’s North Side, with a majority Black population, has decidedly mixed opinions on the City Council’s effort, following the police killing of George Floyd, to significantly reduce the size and scope of Minneapolis’s police force.

Residents complain of rampant police mistreatment, but also of out-of-control crime and violence. That reality has left many Black residents here unenthusiastic about what has become known as the defund movement. Adding complexity to the debate, they say that they despise the police but need someone to call when things go awry.

“It does seem like a no-win situation,” Ms. Williams said.

Proponents of defunding argue that having considerably fewer — or no — police officers could actually reduce crime because those resources could instead be invested into communities struggling with poverty.

But that argument does not win over everybody.

In a survey last month of likely voters in 10 battleground states, just under half of Black respondents said they would be more likely to support a candidate who made defunding the police a priority, according to the poll commissioned by Run for Something, which supports young, progressive candidates, and Collective PAC, which backs Black candidates.

Reducing police department budgets drew support from 70 percent of Black Americans, according to a Gallup poll released in July. Yet only 22 percent of Black respondents supported the more drastic measure pushed by some activists of zeroing out police department budgets altogether.