Normally, we who live in New Ulm would have little to no interest in how the Minneapolis city government sets up its budget. But these are not normal times. The nation is watching what the Minneapolis City Council is doing with its proposal to cut $8 million from the city’s police budget and move it to other services and areas they think will do better the things they think police don’t do well.

This all harks back to May, when a now ex-Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd for nearly eight minutes. Floyd lost consciousness and died in those eight minutes with Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck. Floyd’s death led to days of rage in Minneapolis and throughout the country. A mob burned down the Minneapolis Third Precinct building and destroyed businesses in Minneapolis and St. Paul as police watched that first night, before National Guard troops were called in to help contain the crowds.

Calls for defunding the police started to be heard, and a few Minneapolis City Council members promised that’s what they would do. They are getting ready to vote on a budget this week to strip the $8 million that the Minneapolis Police Department could use to rebuild its depleted ranks and try to combat the crime wave that has hit Minneapolis.

Why do we care about what Minneapolis does? Many people from Greater Minnesota travel to Minneapolis on occasion, or we have children who live and work in Minneapolis. We watch with alarm the reports of increased drug trafficking, shootings and carjackings and wonder why the Minneapolis City Council isn’t doing something to address the violent crime.

Taking money from police to fund other programs, to send teams of social workers and mental health professionals out on calls that police have been forced to take all these years doesn’t make sense.

There may be better ways and models for the Minneapolis Police Department to follow. But at this time, when its ranks are being depleted and crime is on the rise, it seems irresponsible to cut back on public safety spending.