The city of Minneapolis has decided to shut down its narcotics division - the unit responsible for tracking down and busting mid to high-level drug dealers and producers - ostensibly under pressure to reduce a budget defecit.
The Minneapolis Police Department apparently has a $5million budget defecit and feels that closing the 14-officer unit is a sensible way to save some cash. The unit apparently investigated around 4000 cases this year and its closure is likely to cause a backlash from concerned citizens.
Lt. Przynski, the officer leading the disbanded unit, said:
"This unit has been highly productive, if not the most productive unit in the Minneapolis Police Department," Przynski said. I'm disappointed, and so are my officers, about this decision."
The city's police chief, Tim Dolan, believes that the force can still combat the illegal narcotics trade effectively without the division, though it is unclear how he reaches this conclusion. Initially, the members of the narcotics unit will be re-assigned to duties such as street patrols.
Hinting at darker issues than budget-balancing, City Council Member Ralph Remington, said:
"The department could save a lot of money if they corrected the bad behavior of a few bad cops [...] I just learned today that the chief was cutting the narcotics unit, so I want to look at the issue more closely."
Minneapolis PD has also cut down their canine, hostage negotiation and SWAT units, though has not disbanded them completely.
Read more at the Star Tribune
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