A former Minneapolis police officer said that the city’s officers are fleeing the force and “feel helpless” when on patrol.
“This goes back before George Floyd. Since around 2015, I know the city of Minneapolis has been backpedaling, taking tools away from police to enforce the law and keep the streets safe,” former Minneapolis police officer Steve Dykstra told Fox News.
“They feel pretty helpless out there,” Dykstra added.
The city is seeking federal and state resources as it grapples with a crime surge, including a mass shooting that left a college student dead hours before he was set to graduate.
MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR ADMITS THAT CALLS TO ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ CONTRIBUTED TO CRIME SURGE
While Dykstra pointed to a lack of resources going back years, crime rates have skyrocketed more recently after the death of George Floyd last May. The growing trend of shootings has been particularly troublesome for the city, with early 2021 data showing a 250% increase in gunshot victims.
Policy changes and the city council’s plans to defund the police department have led to nearly 200 officers leaving the force since Floyd’s death and the social unrest that followed.
“You take away loitering laws and the ability to pursue vehicles. You don’t have to stop for the police in Minneapolis anymore, thanks to Mayor Frey and the city council. Cops get frustrated,” Dykstra said of the changes. “What you see is chaos, violence, and reoccurring crime.”
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Dykstra said he finally had enough when Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey ordered police to abandon their precinct when protesters set it ablaze, telling officers to take a more “soft” approach as riots broke out across the city.
“They gave that building to them as a token,” Dykstra said.
Dykstra’s comments come on the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death, which has led to scenes of protest and remembrance throughout the country. Former President Barack Obama marked the anniversary in a tweet Tuesday, saying there were “reasons to hope” in a brighter future.
“George Floyd was murdered one year ago today. Since then, hundreds more Americans have died in encounters with police-parents, sons, daughters, friends taken from us far too soon,” Obama said. “But the last year has also given us reasons to hope.”
But the one-year anniversary also led to violence at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, where gunshots rang out Tuesday in a scene that saw one person transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
