Hundreds Sign Up to Speak on Minneapolis Plan to Cut Police

MINNEAPOLIS -- The future of policing in the city where George Floyd was killed is headed for a showdown vote.

More than 300 Minneapolis residents signed up to speak Wednesday night ahead of an expected vote by the City Council on whether to shrink the city's police department while violent crime is soaring.

Mayor Jacob Frey has threatened to veto the entire $1.5 billion city budget because it includes a "Safety for All" proposal by three council members to cut nearly $8 million from Frey's proposed $179 million budget for police and redirect it toward alternatives for reducing violence.

They would spend it instead on mental health teams, violence prevention programs and other initiatives.