Worried Residents Sue Minneapolis Leaders Over Crime Spike
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The state's largest city faces a lawsuit for a crime spike amid calls to replace the police department.
Two separate shootings Tuesday morning pushed the number of killings in Minneapolis to 49.
That's one more death than in all of last year.
"Every single night on any block on this neighborhood you can hear gunshots every single freaking night," Cathy Spann said.
A crime wave has hit the streets of Minneapolis and people who call the north side home, say it is disproportionately affecting their neighborhoods.
"We are a community that is riddled with crime we are under siege," Spann said.
Minneapolis is 20 homicides ahead of where it was this time last year.
"We knew that this was going to be a disaster when we heard the un-consulted announcement made," Don Samuels said.
Northsiders believe the city council's plan to defund Minneapolis police is the root cause of the spike in crime.
"You cannot disband and dismantle police departments and leave communities such as this where we face the worst disparities in the nation you cannot leave us with nothing," Spann said.
Cathy Spann is one of eight north side residents to file a law suit against Minneapolis, claiming city council has made Minneapolis a more dangerous place to live, especially for people who live in higher crime areas.
"The lawsuit says that you are in violation of the charter by you defunding the police department you have gone below per capita the number of police officers that are required according to the law and the charter is the law of the city of Minneapolis it's like our constitution," Spann said.
The lawsuit says the number of officers per capita required in the city charter is 743.
It claims talks of defunding is causing officers to retire, quit, take medical leave and make disability claims in unprecedented numbers without replacement.
"We don't need any more problems we certainly don't need them from our leaders we got enough problems. What we need from our leaders is support, wisdom, maturity, and consultation with us about decisions that affect us," Samuels said.
The lawsuit aims to force the city council and mayor to take action to secure citizen's safety.
The city's attorney's office says it is reviewing the lawsuit.