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Court Orders Minneapolis to Hire More Cops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July 1, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bill Walsh (651) 373-1819

[email protected]

(Golden Valley, MN) On July 1, 2021, the Hennepin County District Court issued a Writ of Mandamus which orders the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey to “immediately take any and all necessary action to ensure that they fund a police force” of at least 730 sworn officers, or more if required by the 2020 Census to be published later this year, by June 30, 2022.

The City had projected that the Minneapolis Police Department would only have 669 sworn officers as of June 1, 2022, so the order requires the City to take strong, immediate measures to increase its hiring substantially above what it had planned for 2021 and 2022.

The decision is a landmark victory for the Petitioners, eight Black and White residents of Minneapolis’ Jordan and Hawthorne neighborhoods on its embattled North Side, against the City Council’s illegal attempts to “Defund the Police,” in defiance of the Mayor and a minority of the City Council to maintain sufficient police staffing. The Petitioners—Cathy Spann, Sondra Samuels, Don Samuels, Audua Pugh, Jonathan Lundberg, Aimee Lundberg, Georgianna Yantos, and Juliee Oden—are represented in the lawsuit by the Upper Midwest Law Center.

Doug Seaton, President of the Upper Midwest Law Center, said: “This is a huge victory for the Petitioners and all residents of Minneapolis, especially those in the most diverse neighborhoods feeling the brunt of rising crime rates. We applaud the Court’s decision and look forward to swift action by the City Council and Mayor to fund the police and ensure the safety of all Minneapolitans.”

The Order for a Writ of Mandamus is available here.

About Upper Midwest Law Center

Upper Midwest Law Center is a non-profit, public interest law firm with the mission to initiate pro-freedom litigation to protect against constitutional violations, government overreach, special interest agendas and public union corruption and abuses. UMLC is a 501(c)(3) organization.

To learn more about Upper Midwest Law Center, click here.

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