Brooklyn Center City Council rejects police reform proposal nearly 3 years after killing of Daunte Wright
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Strong emotions of sadness and anger erupted Monday in Brooklyn Center after a city council vote of 3-2 against changing the way police make traffic stops.
The proposal would've no longer allowed officers to pull people over for low-level violations.
Katie Wright, whose son, Daunte Wright, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in 2021, left the council chambers in tears before returning to address the council directly.
"You guys are some sorry people," she said. "More people are going to die because you guys didn't do the right thing. I have been fighting for three years. My son has been dead for two years and nine months, and you guys say no to a policy that's going to protect people?"
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Daunte Wright was pulled over for expired tabs when former officer Kim Potter mistook her gun for her taser.
Katie Wright had a say in shaping the new proposed policy.
She told WCCO before the vote she felt anxious.
"You just want to make sure no other parent has to go through the pain you've went through," she said. "If these policies were in place when my son was killed, he'd still be alive today. I truly believe that."
One of the three council members who voted no told WCCO she'd looked at the research, listened to her constituents and stood by her vote.
Brooklyn Center Mayor April Graves supported the changes.
"The recommendations before us today are the result of hours of research, many courageous conversations with community, staff and council and a willingness to step into uncomfortable spaces and dialogue with people we may not have in the past," she said.
Graves held Katie Wright as she cried after the vote.
The move to no longer pull over drivers for low-impact offenses has been adopted in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
St. Paul leaders have said violent crime hasn't gone up, but racial disparities in traffic stops have gone down.