The post Seattle City Council overrides mayor’s veto of police cuts appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Seattle’s City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday evening to override Mayor Jenny Durkan‘s veto of a bill that would cut police funding by around $3 million.
“We cannot look away from this and we can no longer accept the status quo if we truly believe that Black lives matter,” Council President Lorena Gonzalez said, according to MyNorthwest.com.
The bill would also remove as many as 100 officers from various police units and limit staff pay to $150,000, The Seattle Times reported.
The council said the bill was a “downpayment” toward its effort to ultimately defund the department by 50%, which would likely happen next year.
JUDGE RULES RECALL PETITION CAN PROCEED AGAINST CONTROVERSIAL SEATTLE CITYY COUNCILWOMAN
Council members Debora Juarez and Alex Pedersen cast the dissenting votes, Seattle’s KING-TV reported.
The council had approved the cuts by 7-1 in August. The move prompted police Chief Carmen Best to retire, effective Sept. 2, claiming the planned cuts had placed her in a “position destined to fail.”
Best, the city’s first Black police chief, had been with the department for nearly three decades.
The council overrode the mayor’s veto on a total of three bills, which included reallocating $14 million to community safety programs, according to KING.
And if the veto override wasn’t successful, Gonzalez planned an alternate budget proposal that would limit cuts to the department and cut proposed community funding, MyNorthwest.com reported.
US ATTORNEY DENIES REPORT THAT BARR ASKED PROSECUTORS TO CONSIDER CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST DURKAN
During an hour of public comments most speakers urged the council to override the veto in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, The Times reported.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe … Countless videos of Black and brown lives lost here in Seattle and across the country shows us that not everyone feels safe,” González added, according to the TImes. “We need public safety that’s centered on harm reduction, not the status quo. … “When I look back in this moment of time, I want to be able to tell my daughter, who I’m currently holding in my arms, that I did the right thing and that I voted on the right side of history.”
The mayor, at the urging of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, business leaders and some residents, has called for the council to slow down on defunding the department.
The city also faces a budget struggle because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Durkan is set to reveal her budget plan next week The Times reported.
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Both Durkan and Councilmember Kshama Sawant are facing recall attempts – Durkan over the police department’s use of force during protests and Sawant for allowing protesters inside City Hall during the pandemic.
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]]>The post Louisville city council votes ‘no confidence’ in mayor for handling of Breonna Taylor case appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Louisville, Kentucky’s city council Thursday night approved a “no confidence” resolution against Mayor Greg Fischer, citing his handling of the death of Breonna Taylor and the unrest that followed.
The resolution expressing “concern/no confidence in the leadership demonstrated by Mayor Greg Fischer” passed 22-4. An earlier resolution asking the mayor to resign was nixed in favor of one seeking specific reforms.
“The Council believes that Mayor Greg Fischer failed to hold leadership of the Louisville Metro Police Department (“LMPD”) properly accountable,” the approved resolution stated.
Among the list of recommendations were calls to increase affordable housing, limit development in at-risk neighborhoods unless the development is black-owned and affordable, and complete a top-to-bottom review of the police department by the end of the year.
Fischer responded with humility, saying in a video Thursday night, “Metro Council voiced its displeasure about how I’ve handed some of those challenges.”
“I apologize for this,” he said.
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Events in Louisville have been under national scrutiny since police shot and killed emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor while serving a “no-knock” warrant in March. Taylor was in her home with boyfriend Kenneth Walker when Louisville officers raided her apartment just after midnight.
A warrant was executed to search for drugs or cash from drug trafficking in connection with an investigation involving her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a convicted drug dealer. Glover had been using Taylor’s address to receive packages, according to authorities.
No drugs or money were recovered during the raid, according to the search warrant inventory document obtained by NBC News.
Officers have said they were fired upon as they entered the home, but Taylor’s family has said Walker believed the home was being broken into and fired his legally owned gun to defend himself.
In June, Louisville officials passed Breonna’s Law. The measure banned the use of no-knock warrants, which allow police to forcibly enter people’s homes without warning.
The city of Louisville settled a wrongful death suit filed by Taylor’s family for $12 million on Tuesday, which did not require the city to admit any wrongdoing.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, sued three Louisville Metro Police Department officers in late April. The lawsuit alleged that police used excessive force and that the search was grossly negligent. In an amended complaint filed in July, Taylor’s family claimed the raid was connected to a gentrification project.
Palmer said Tuesday during a news conference that the settlement was “only the beginning of getting full justice” for her daughter.
“We must not lose focus on what the real job is,” Palmer said. “It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more.”
Two officers involved in the raid and the detective who obtained the warrant were placed on administrative leave. One officer, Brett Hankison, who shot 10 rounds blindly into Taylor’s apartment was fired in June.
None of the officers involved in the case have been charged.
Taylor, who had no criminal record, has become a national symbol for racial injustice as her death gained heightened attention in recent months. Her image has been shared across social media as thousands of people, including NBA star LeBron James and Oprah Winfrey, have called for the officers to be charged in her death.
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]]>The post 3 residents of Council Bluffs nursing home have died from COVID-19 appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —
Three residents of the Risen Son Christian Village in Council Bluffs have died from COVID-19, according to a news release from the nursing home.
According to the news release, the first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 at the community was reported June 26.
Since then, a total of 19 residents and 11 associates have tested positive, according to the release.
Three of those 19 residents passed away, the nursing home said.
Cindy Bussey’s aunt, Katie Jacobs is among the 19 residents who have tested positive for coronavirus.
Jacobs, 96 is still fighting the virus and Bussey is praying her aunt makes a full recovery.
“It eats a core into my heart thinking if i had the proper home I would’ve brought her home and maybe she wouldnt’ve got this COVID,” said Bussey.
A representative for the nursing home said it tested residents and associates June 23 and has been conducting frequent, widespread testing.
None of the associates who have tested positive for the coronavirus are able to work until they test negative for COVID-19, the news release said.
“We notified public health officials as required and are following procedures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention,” said Ray Dickison, COO leader of the Christian Horizons COVID-19 Task Force.
Bussey told KETV Newswatch 7 she visits Jacobs daily, and is keeping the faith that she will continue to living to see her 97th birthday in August.
“I realize that’s eldery,” said Bussey. “But I have heard about the 102 year olds who have come off the ventilators and survived. The man upstairs is in charge.”
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]]>The post Seattle City Council seems ready to defund police by 50 percent appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>The Seattle City Council has enough support in its body to defund the city’s police department by 50 percent even without Mayor Jenny Durkan’s approval, a report said.
The Seattle Times reported late Thursday that three council members threw their support behind Decriminalize Seattle and King County Equity Now. The paper described Decriminalize Seattle as a coalition inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests that seek the defunding.
TRUMP TELLS HANNITY THAT SEATTLE ONLY ACTED AFTER THREAT OF FEDERAL FORCES
Seattle has recently been the focus of an intense protest that occupied a precinct and about six city streets called CHOP. The city eventually removed the protesters but not before two people were killed by gunfire.
Police tore down fences that protesters had erected around their tents and used batons to poke inside bushes, apparently looking for people who might be hiding inside. One officer took down a sign saying “we are not leaving until our demands are met: 1. Defund SPD by 50 percent now. 2. Fund Black Communities. 3. Free all protesters.”
ICE CREAM PARLOR BANS COPS WITH GUNS
The Times pointed out that seven out of the city council’s nine members have indicated support of defunding police. The department’s budget is $409 million.
Durkan, a Democrat, has been assailed by both protesters and Republicans over her handling of the crisis. Critics on the right described her as an out-of-touch leader and pointed to an interview on CNN when she was asked early on about how long she anticipated the zone to be a “police-free.” She responded, “I don’t know, we could have a summer of love.”
On Thursday, Durkan told King 5 that she “deeply, deeply regret the loss of life in and around Capitol Hill.”
She was asked about the 50 percent defunding number and said, “Target numbers themselves are irresponsible if you’re not looking at the functions and what the police should be doing versus what perhaps other people can and should be doing.”
City leaders in Los Angeles voted recently to slash the Los Angeles Police Department budget by $150 million, which would reduce the number of officers to a level not seen for more than a decade. The New York City Council voted to cut the NYPD budget in 2021 by $1 billion. Seattle’s cut would be by far the most significant for a major city.
Angélica Cházaro, a University of Washington law professor and Decriminalize Seattle organizer, said, “It’s about spending the money that is currently used on police on things like free and universal health care, food child care and that would prevent property crime more than anything else.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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]]>The post NY City Council approves slashing $1B from NYPD budget appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Police union fumes over de Blasio’s possible plan to cut NYPD budget
Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie says New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) plan would slash the New York Police Department’s budget by $1 billion if it passes the city council. FOX Business’ David Asman later discusses where the funding could go to instead of the police force.
New York City lawmakers voted Tuesday on budget changes that shifted $1 billion from the New York Police Department to programs that assist in youth and community development, a number that fell short of what many protesters in the city have demanded.
The City Council said in a statement that the city’s 2021 budget will include $837 million in cuts and transfers to the New York Police Department (NYPD) expense budget, which removes $1 billion from the NYPD’s spending when combined with associated costs.
The amount was far less than what some protesters demanded. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said earlier that $1.5 billion in cuts would not be enough.
“Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math,” she said. One Twitter user wrote, “This is like putting the NYPD budget in Groucho Marx glasses and calling it a day.”
Corey Johnson, the city council speaker, said, “The Council fought hard to get where we are, but I know this is just a starting point, not an ending point. We need to go farther.”
He added the budget agreement “was negotiated with a focus on police reform, youth services, and achieving equity, particularly for low-income communities of color.”
New York City Council Minority Whip Joseph Borelli voted no against the budget cuts and said, “know what we’re doing will create a more violent city.”
Borelli added that there were “72 shootings last week alone, and not one shot by [a] NYPD officer.”
“We must always have safety and we will in this city, but we are also going to amplify both safety and fairness by reaching our young people more deeply than ever before,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said speaking from a press conference Tuesday. “And that’s what this budget is all about.”
City lawmakers agreed to shift the funds away from the NYPD, but police reform activists are worried these funds will be moved around in a manner that still benefits the police department.
“To the thousands of New Yorkers who so admirably fought for budget justice over the past several weeks: we heard you and we stand with you,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We recognize that the City must move away from failed racist policing policies of the past.”
AOC SAYS PROPOSED $1B BUDGET CUT TO NYPD ISN’T ENOUGH: ‘DEFUNDING POLICE MEANS DEFUNDING POLICE’
An encampment of protestors set up outside City Hall last week to demand the city “defund the police” — a movement demonstrators have been calling for across the country, since the death of George Floyd in police custody in late May.
Several other cases of police brutality and alleged systemic racism sparked the nationwide conversation by U.S. lawmakers attempting to implement police reforms.
Demonstrators calling to “defund the police” want taxpayer funds diverted from policing systems to support initiatives that focus on community and youth programs. Activists say the move would help prevent racial injustices by providing opportunities for underprivileged communities.
Under the new plan described by de Blasio, a 1,200-person recruiting course set for next month has been canceled, school safety, crossing guards and homeless outreach will no longer be the responsibility of the NYPD, and overtime spending will also be curtailed.
MAXINE WATERS SAYS POLICE ‘TRADITION’ HAS TO BE ‘DONE AWAY WITH,’ ARGUES VIOLENCE DURING PROTESTS WAS ‘MINOR’
“We must always have safety and we will in this city, but we are also going to amplify both safety and fairness by reaching our young people more deeply than ever before,” de Blasio said. “And that’s what this budget is all about.”
The funds will instead be diverted to aid communities hardest hit by the coronavirus, as well as summer youth programs that will assist 100,000 youth in the city.
“We’re acting on that call for justice,” de Blasio told reporters. “I believe it is our mission to redistribute resources to those who need them the most.”
Other cuts are reportedly being made to the NYPD budget. A new police precinct that was supposed to be built in Queens will instead be a new community center, and broadband internet service will be made available to some public housing units.
NEW YORK CITY PROTESTERS SCUFFLE WITH POLICE OUTSIDE CITY HALL AHEAD OF BUDGET HEARING; 2 ARRESTED
“It was a challenge…to figure out the priorities, it’s not easy,” de Blasio said referring to the massive costs incurred by the coronavirus and in reconfiguring the new annual city budget.
“Nine-billion dollars evaporated, just gone in the course of just a few months” the democratic mayor told reporters, describing the devastating financial effects of the coronavirus.
De Blasio noted that the city would make adjustments to the allotted funds in the event of a catastrophe, but that the new budget aims to cut day-to-day costs such as overtime expenditures from police officers attending court or completing paperwork. The overtime costs alone incurred from the recent George Floyd protests amounted to $115 million.
The budget agreed upon Tuesday amounts to $88 billion, which is $7 billion less than what de Blasio had previously proposed prior to the coronavirus outbreak, and $5 billion less than the allotted budget for 2020.
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“We need to think differently about how we support young people in this city. We’ve made a lot of changes before but we need to go a lot farther,” de Blasio said. “The NYPD is going to refocus on helping young people”
“Our young people need to be reached, not policed, reached.”
Fox News’ David Aaro, Edmund DeMarche, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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]]>The post Minneapolis City Council members who voted to gut police get taxpayer-funded private security appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Three members of the Minneapolis city council are being protected by taxpayer-funded private security even as they support a proposal to abolish the police department.
The council members — Andrea Jenkins, Phillipe Cunningham and Alondra Cano — have received death threats since George Floyd was killed May 25 in police custody, according to Fox9 in Minneapolis, which broke the story.
The security has cost the city $4,500 per day, or $63,000, in the last three weeks, prompting allegations of hypocrisy and a double standard, given the members’ support for eradicating the police department.
“The same clowns that voted to disband the Minneapolis police force have hired private security companies to look after them. They can afford to. You can’t,” tweeted Human Events managing editor Ian Miles Cheong.
Minneapolis Council members get private security after threats https://t.co/ZfCLUcLjvF
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) June 27, 2020
Wait, they didn’t ask for social workers?!? https://t.co/rUX0WF0isT
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) June 27, 2020
No satire can top these clowns… https://t.co/uSewoQ6Huu
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 28, 2020
The Minneapolis city council voted unanimously Friday for a proposed ballot measure to eliminate the department and replace it with a “holistic” approach to public safety.
The measure, which would appear on the Nov. 3 ballot if approved by the charter commission, would establish a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention and remove the police as a charter department.
The Minneapolis mayor typically receives protection by a police officer, but not the 13 council members.
“My concern is the large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving,” Ms. Jenkins told Fox9 in an email.
The private security is intended to be temporary until a permanent protection solution can be approved.
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]]>The post Minneapolis council members calling to defund police spend $63G on private security details after receiving… appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Several Minneapolis City Council members who have received death threats following their calls to defund the police after the death of George Floyd have been assigned private security details — reportedly costing the city $4,500 a day in taxpayer dollars.
According to information obtained by Fox News, the city has spent $63,000 on private security over the last three weeks.
“The names of the people getting security details are not public,” a city spokesperson told Fox News Saturday.
The names of three council members who are receiving private security detail have already been made public, two of whom interviewed with local affiliate Fox 9 on Friday. The spokesperson did not respond to Fox News’ questions about whether or not there were additional council members receiving security detail.
The threats reportedly came after the council members were vocal in their calls to defund the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a proposal to eliminate the city’s police department Friday, initiating steps toward establishing a new “holistic” approach to public safety.
The largely white police force has struggled to regain the city’s trust after the death of George Floyd. The new proposal would eliminate the existing police department and instead create “a department of community safety and violence prevention, which will have responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach.”
One council member told Fox 9: “I don’t feel comfortable publicly discussing the death threats against me or the level of security I currently have protecting me from those threats.”
They noted that the security detail was temporary.
But another council member told the outlet they had been worried about security since they were sworn in.
“My concern is the large number of white nationalist[s] in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving,” they said.
None of the council members responded to Fox News’ request for comment.
The Minneapolis Police Department, which would traditionally provide security in this scenario, could not be reached by Fox News but told Fox 9 that the MPD does not have any records of recent threats against the three council members — adding that it was possible the record could have been filed confidentially.
“Council members have reported to staff numerous threats to themselves personally,” the city told Fox News Saturday.
One of the council members who spoke with Fox 9 said they did not alert the threats to the MPD because they were consumed with dealing with the “global pandemic and global uprising” after Floyd‘s death. But they noted that the threats had been wide-ranging, attacking their ethnicity, gender identity and sexuality.
The Minneapolis mayor’s office could not be reached by Fox News to address the security threats against the council members. But a city spokesperson told Fox 9 that the MPD resources were needed elsewhere in the community. They also said that the cost of the private security detail was roughly the same as the cost for the taxpayer as would be MPD security services.
Private security has been provided by two firms, Aegis and BelCom, as an interim fix until other security solutions can be established.
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“This security service was intended to be temporary and [a] bridge to other security measures implemented by council members themselves,” a city spokesperson told Fox News.
The security expenses do not need city council approval unless the amount surpasses $175,000. A spokesperson for the city told Fox 9 that the temporary security costs are not anticipated to come near that threshold.
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]]>The post Minneapolis council members who voted to abolish cops get private security appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>June 27, 2020 | 5:23pm
Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins speaks to a group gathered outside the Cup Foods, where George Floyd was killed in police custody.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Security for me but not for thee.
Three members of the Minneapolis City Council who voted to eliminate the local police force are being protected by a private security detail that costs taxpayers $4,500 a day.
News of the arrangement broke Friday, the same day that the council voted 12-0 to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
“My concern is the large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving,” Councilmember Andrea Jenkins told Fox 9 News — adding that she had been asking for private security ever since she took office in 2018.
The city has spent $63,000 on rent-a-cops for Jenkins and fellow councilmembers Phillipe Cunningham and Alondra Cano during the last three weeks after the three said they had received threats.
But an MPD spokesperson said that no complaints of threats against them had been filed.
All three have pushed the movement to scrap city police force in favor of “peace officers” and a “holistic, public health-oriented approach” to law enforcement.
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]]>The post Minneapolis City Council members get private security detail after reported threats | TheHill appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Three members of the Minneapolis City Council have reportedly been provided with a private security detail after receiving threats for supporting proposals to defund the city’s police department in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
The city is currently spending $4,500 per day on security for council members Andrea Jenkins, Phillips Cunningham and Alondra Cano, Fox 9 reported on Friday.
A spokesperson for the city told the outlet that the private security has cost roughly $63,000 over the past three weeks.
The security comes after the three of the council members have reportedly faced threats due to their support for defunding the Minneapolis Police Department.
Cunningham told the outlet that the security is temporary, but declined to elaborate on security measures.
“I don’t feel comfortable publicly discussing the death threats against me or the level of security I currently have protecting me from those threats,” Cunningham said in a text message to the outlet.
Jenkins said that she has received threats in emails, letters and social media posts.
“My concern is the large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving,” Jenkins told the outlet, adding that she has asked for security since she was sworn in.
Jenkins added that she has not reported the threats to the Minneapolis Police Department because she has been preoccupied with the dual crisis of the “global pandemic and global uprising” over the killing of George Floyd.
A spokesperson told the outlet that the three council members are being protected by private security services because the city’s police officers are needed in the community amid protests and unrest.
The hourly cost of private security is similar to the cost for a police officer, the spokesperson added.
The expense does not need to be approved by the city council unless it surpasses $175,000. A spokesperson for the city told Fox 9 that the temporary security costs are not anticipated to rise that high.
The Minneapolis City Council on Friday unanimously approved a proposal that would amend the city’s charter to allow the city police department to be dismantled.
The 12-0 vote is the latest push to hold law enforcement accountable after the death of Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed last month in an encounter with the city’s police.
The proposal’s passage is the first step toward making the decision a ballot measure in the November general election.
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