Less than a year and a half after the fatal police operation against the African American George Floyd, the citizens of Minneapolis have voted against the dissolution of their police department.
More than 56 percent of voters spoke out against the plan to create a new public security agency, according to the election results published on Tuesday.
Mayor Jacob Frey, who had rejected the reform plans, was relieved by the result of the vote.
"We need a profound, structural change in policing in America," Frey told the Washington Post during an appearance in front of supporters of his Democratic Party.
"At the same time, we need to ensure that the police officers work directly with the community to ensure our safety." Frey is running for a second term as mayor of the city.
In the first ballot, he missed direct re-election with around 43 percent of the vote.
Guilty verdict against police officers
Floyd was killed in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis in May 2020. The white policeman Derek Chauvin held the knee of the 46-year-old black man who had been arrested on charges of counterfeit money for around nine and a half minutes, although he repeatedly complained that he could no longer breathe. Floyd's death, captured on a cell phone video, caused international outrage and sparked protests against racism and police violence around the world.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, which in Germany roughly corresponds to manslaughter in a serious case.
He was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison.
The US Department of Justice opened an investigation following the guilty verdict into whether there is "a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing" at the Minnesota City Police Department.