Minneapolis Votes To Keep City's Police Department: AP

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis residents voted to keep their city's police department, the Associated Press projects. A strong majority voted "No" when asked to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new "Department of Public Safety."

With all 136 precincts in contest reporting, "No" votes lead by nearly 20,000 ballots.

Live ballot results

Results are not yet official

Amendment needs a majority of votes to pass

YES
62,813
43.83%

NO
80,506
56.17%

The ballot proposal was passed by the city council. Any amendment to the city charter must be approved by a majority of voters at the ballot box.

The amendment has divided top Democrats in the state. U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and Gov. Tim Walz came out against the proposal, while U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota Attorney General Keith endorsed it.

Days before the election, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo issued a searing rebuke of the ballot amendment, saying it would not fix the issues with public safety in the city — including "tragic incidents" between residents and officers.

"To vote on a measure of reimagining public safety without a solid plan and an implementation or direction of work. This is too critical of a time to wish and hope for that help that we need so desperately right now," he said at a news conference Wednesday.

"I was not expecting some sort of robust, detailed word-for-word plan, but at this point quite frankly, I would take a drawing on a napkin. And I have not seen either."

Yes 4 MPLS, the leading group of activists in favor of the amendment, responded to the chief, saying “Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo campaigning in uniform today—in explicit contradiction of the policy he himself wrote last year—is one of many examples revealed in his press conference today why structural change is imperative to keep the people of Minneapolis safe and to implement an accountable and transparent relationship with those who are called to protect and serve."

Here is how the ballot amendment was written:

City Question 2

Department of Public Safety

Shall the Minneapolis City Charter be amended to remove the Police Department and replace it with a Department of Public Safety that employs a comprehensive public health approach to the delivery of functions by the Department of Public Safety, with those specific functions to be determined by the Mayor and City Council by ordinance; which will not be subject to exclusive mayoral power over its establishment, maintenance, and command; and which could include licensed peace officers (police officers), if necessary, to fulfill its responsibilities for public safety, with the general nature of the amendments being briefly indicated in the explanatory note below, which is made a part of this ballot?

YES ______NO ______

Explanatory Note:

This amendment would create a Department of Public Safety combining public safety functions through a comprehensive public health approach to be determined by the Mayor and Council. The department would be led by a Commissioner nominated by the Mayor and appointed by the Council. The Police Department, and its chief, would be removed from the City Charter. The Public Safety Department could include police officers, but the minimum funding requirement would be eliminated.