I Was Mayor of Minneapolis. I Know Why Police Reforms Fail.
An us-versus-them culture has deadly consequences.
When I attended police swearing-in ceremonies as the mayor of Minneapolis, I spent a lot of time shaking hands with our city’s new recruits. I wanted to understand the people who had stepped up to do a job I was too scared to do. I tried to spend even more time with their families; I wanted to thank the parents who raised a child to do a job I would never let my own kid do. I wanted to know who ate dinner alone because their partner was patrolling streets; who looked out at an empty seat from the school play or basketball game because their parent was at a murder scene.
For a few years, long before I ran for office, I worked as a police reporter. During that time, and in my 12 years as a mayor, I have seen police officers
