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Portrait of Michelle Phelps

What Does "Dismantling" the Police Really Mean?
The Minneapolis City Council is moving forward with a proposed amendment to the city’s charter that would disband the current police department and replace it with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. Voters will ultimately decide the fate of the council’s proposal in November if it passes some bureaucratic hurdles in meantime. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, University of Minnesota Associate Professor of Sociology Michelle Phelps discusses systemic racism in our nation’s police departments and what a new vision for law enforcement might look like.
Portrait of Phyllis Moen

Fallout from the pandemic has Minnesota baby boomers rethinking retirement
“With our longer life spans, many people live as many years in retirement as they did working,” said Phyllis Moen, who holds an endowed chair in sociology at the University of Minnesota. “With this longevity bonus and years of active engagement, they’ve rewritten the script. Now there’s a sense of loss as they recognize their choices and opportunities are changing.”
Portrait of Cawo Abdi

Race, resistance, and rage in the midst of COVID-19
Minneapolis-St. Paul is burning with rage while demonstrations continue around the nation. Politicians and television commentators pontificate about what should be done as people of all races, genders and faiths in the Twin Cities, Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, New York, LA and other cities take to the streets to express their outrage. Sociology Professor Cawo Abdi co-authors this piece from MinnPost.
Portrait of Josh Page

How Minneapolis is trying to reimagine the future of policing
Since the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, calls have grown for that city to overhaul its police department. Now, the effort to “dismantle the police department as we know it” has gained the support of a majority of city council members. What does that mean in terms of actual policy? PBS Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports.
George Floyd Mural

A Statement from the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota on...
We reaffirm our Department’s commitment to research, teaching, and advocacy that helps push forward justice and equity in Minneapolis and beyond. This includes supporting Black students, staff, and faculty at the University; working towards alternatives to policing; and dismantling white supremacy in U.S. society.

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