Public Safety

Are you ready for a night out? National Night Out is an annual event that gets big Twin Cities participation every year. Tonight is the night, and many blocks and neighborhoods have planned more or less elaborate events, including closing streets, setting up special events for kids, planning parties, and inviting police to come and talk about crime prevention. (For a great NNO story from a few years ago, see Friends in Peace. MORE »

Police brutality is alleged after a July 20 arrest of Darryl Robinson, vice president of the Minneapolis-based Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). Robinson was a successful plaintiff in a 2003 civil rights lawsuit against the Minneapolis Police Department. MORE »

“A mixed bag” may be the most charitable way to describe the civil rights policies and practices on display at the Friday, July 25 Minneapolis City Council meeting. MORE »

Before adjourning on July 25, the City Council approved a resolution that activists claim strips protestors of their civil rights protections; council members maintain the resolution simply clarifies existing police policies. The resolution, passed by the full council on June 20, was returned to committee and amended several times. Labeled 2008R-248, the resolution replaces a 2000 council agreement passed in the wake of protests and arrests at the International Society of Animal Genetics Conference. MORE »