Surprise: Business Owners Considering Leaving Minneapolis Over Potential Police Defunding

Obviously, no one saw this coming

Dozens Of Minneapolis Businesses Consider Leaving, Cite Possibility Of Police Being Dismantled

Dozens of Minneapolis businesses are considering leaving downtown, citing concerns about the possibility of the police department being dismantled, CBS Minnesota reported.

A survey by the Downtown Council shows 45 business owners say they are considering leaving downtown Minneapolis because of the lack of people working and socializing in the area and also the idea that the police department could be dismantled, CBS reported.

One of the surveyed businesses that is considering leaving employs 600 people, deepening fears that the city could take another major blow to employment, which was hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The Council did not divulge which businesses are considering leaving.

“This is by far the biggest challenge that I’ve ever had in my 20 years of owning businesses downtown,” Erik Forsberg, who owns multiple restaurants in downtown Minneapolis told CBS. Forsberg’s restaurants have been reportedly closed since the pandemic began and crime multiplied.

Right now, the notion of defunding has been stalled

However, a Minneapolis commission decided Wednesday that it would take more time to review the City Council amendment to dismantle the police department after concerns that the process was being rushed. “The council says ‘Trust us. We’ll figure it out after this is approved. Trust us.’ We’ll I don’t, and we shouldn’t,” Berry Clegg, chairman of the Charter Commission said according to CBS News.

But there are enough city council members and members of the community who are pushing this, so, businesses are not going to take the chance, and will not sign new leases. They’re also seeing a lot fewer officers. More and more are seeking permanent disability, and

(Star Tribune) Minneapolis police are down at least 100 officers since the killing of George Floyd — more than 10% of the force — straining department resources amid a wave of violence and adding extra urgency to the political debate over its future.

Over the past two months, 40 cops have resigned, been fired or are in the process of leaving the force, and another 75 have taken a medical leave for post-traumatic stress disorder they say was caused by the riots that followed Floyd’s death. Dozens more are expected to file for leave in the coming months.

MPD officials not authorized to speak publicly estimate the department, which is budgeted for 888 officers this year, could lose as much as a third of its workforce by the end of the year.

This should end well.