Minneapolis mayoral candidate wants to disarm police officers

By Beth Baumann

A Minneapolis mayoral candidate and current Minnesota state representative has proposed disarming police officers.

Democratic Rep. Raymond Dehn’s proposal calls for drastic changes to the Minneapolis Police Department, starting with disarming police officers and encouraging them to use non-lethal force.

“Officers don’t need to carry guns on their person all the time. Currently, officers carry all sorts of assault weapons in their cars. So why can’t one of those weapons be the side arm? It’s important that we begin to have a conversation, and I would say that all things are on the table,” Dehn said.

According to Dehn, there are other options for police officers outside of lethal force, including pepper spray and batons.

“I think as we look at how to change policing and how we get officers to not react to use their gun in situations, but learning skills around de-escalation training I think are important,” Dehn told KMSP-TV.

Dehn’s disarmament plan would divert funding from the Minneapolis Police Department in order to address social issues.

“Crime is not a product of individual morality but the consequence of scarcity in our society. We must divest resources, disarm officers, and dismantle the inherent violence of our criminal justice system which continues to …Read the Rest

Source:: The Blaze