[Mpls] Minneapolis is Responding to Hurricane Disaster

[Terrell Brown]

> MAYOR R.T. RYBAK
> MEDIA ALERT
> September 2, 2005
>
>
> The City of Minneapolis is responding to the aftermath of Hurricane 
> Katrina by working through the Interstate Emergency Management Assistance 
> Compact (EMAC) to send needed resources as requested.  Because of the 
> magnitude of this disaster it is important that Minneapolis coordinate our 
> response through EMAC to have the strongest, most effective impact.
>
> EMAC has requested and I have authorized Chief McManus to work with other 
> law enforcement agencies to deploy a coordinated "strike" team of trained 
> officers, along with the food and supplies they need.  Our people and 
> resources are ready to go as needed.

Comment:

Apparently the reason we hired a few new cops was so that we could send them 
4 or 5 states away to do the federal government's job.  We pay federal taxes 
to, in part, respond to these disasters.  I'm not sure that the residents of 
Minneapolis expect their local property taxes to be sent hundreds of miles 
away.

They Mayor has cried poor throughout his term.  He's made drastic cuts in 
fire and police services as the crime rate has increased.  Just last week a 
clerk at a small grocery store just a couple of blocks from the Mayor's home 
was robbed at knife point as he was leaving the store at closing time. 
Murders are reaching a level not seen since the early SSB years.

It is reasonable for our police and fire departments to assist nearby 
departments, St. Paul, Richfield, Brooklyn Center, even St. Cloud or Duluth. 
The sending of scarce police resources to Louisiana so that the Mayor can 
make a feel good statement days before an election is totally absurd.



Terrell Brown
Loring Park