Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Daily Email Edition

Get MN Daily NEWS delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

By demonizing pleasure, we set ourselves up for unfulfilling sex lives.
Opinion: Let’s talk about sex
Published March 27, 2024

Student Senate to propose University police demilitarization bill

If passed by the University Senate, the bill will next go to President Joan Gabel.
Student+Senate+to+propose+University+police+demilitarization+bill
Image by Mary Ellen Ritter

The University of Minnesota Student Senate drafted a bill, slated for introduction on Feb. 25, that calls for the University of Minnesota to begin taking measures to demilitarize police forces across all campuses.

Stemming from advocacy efforts after the police killing of George Floyd, the bill states that military-grade firearms have “no place in civilian law enforcement.”

“The origin of policing in protecting settlers at the expense of indigenous people and enforcing slavery, as well as the contemporary issues that led to the killing of George Floyd, make it difficult for affected communities to trust the police,” the bill said.

If passed by the University Senate, the bill will go to the Office of the President.

Briggs Tople, Student Senate chair and author of the bill, said he started writing drafts in July and began consultation in early October. In drafting the bill, Tople said he consulted with student body presidents across University campuses. He also talked to several University offices, including the Office for Student Affairs and the Office for Equity and Diversity.

“Getting [de]militarized completely — not just from firearms but also equipment in our police forces — is a monumental step that I don’t think any other university has taken,” Tople said.

The bill references the three military-grade firearms that the University of Minnesota Police Department can use. These include Glocks and rifles like the AR-15, a weapon used in several recent mass shootings, including in the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“AR-15’s, which are deemed to be military-grade firearms, should have no place in civilian law enforcement; the demilitarization of police forces is desirable as a general matter,” the bill said.

According to Tople, other University campuses have similarly strained relationships with their police departments.

“Students around the system are asking for a significant change,” Tople said.

Olivia Crull, a member of the University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, said demilitarizing UMPD has been a part of the organization’s demands since spring 2018.

“It’s just absolutely egregious that money that’s coming from students’ tuition is being used to buy military surplus equipment,” Crull said. “It’s just so not necessary for a campus police department to have militarized weaponry, so I think that it seems like a very achievable thing to demilitarize UMPD.”

Crull said she also believes there will not be significant change until there is community control over the police.

“If campus doesn’t have control over these decisions, then the next president could come in and approve the purchase of military equipment; so we want these changes to be lasting, and we want these to be structural,” Crull said.

View Comments (7)
More to Discover

Accessibility Toolbar

Comments (7)

All The Minnesota Daily Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Steve
    Feb 16, 2021 at 12:31 pm

    “Getting [de]militarized completely — not just from firearms but also equipment in our police forces — is a monumental step that I don’t think any other university has taken,” Tople said.

    So go ahead & be the 1st, embarrass our state once again.

  • A Gopher
    Feb 13, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    When you have to qualify your movement with multiple paragraphs on what it actually means you clearly have an unclear message. Defund the police: oh wait I mean restructure, oh wait I mean social workers, oh wait…

  • A Gopher
    Feb 13, 2021 at 4:43 pm

    Called it!

  • Enn Arre
    Feb 12, 2021 at 1:36 pm

    There are so many buzzwords at work here and they don’t help the situation except to be incindinary.

    “Military grade and militarized” What do they actually mean? The internet was developed for the military, is it “militarized communication”? Demilitarize communications…ban the internet? Have you ever seen an iPhone case labeled as “military grade”? It’s just a word to attempt to describe the quality or reliability of a product.

    “Glock” is just the name of a manufacturer of a semi-automatic pistol, just like Walther, SIG Sauer and Smith and Wesson but those names don’t sound so ominous but they still shoot the same ammunition. Glocks are a reliable firearm so they are often a good choice for duty arms.

    “AR-15” is not a military weapon. It is a civilian semi-automatic rifle. The militarized version is a M-16 that can be fully-automatic. Also note that AR does NOT stand for “assault rifle”, it stands for ArmaLite Rifle because the manufacturer’s name is ArmaLite.

    So “demilitarizing” UMPD consists of what? Swapping Glocks for SIG’s because we like the name better and AR-15’s to shotguns? Or drop all firearms for OC spray?

    It’s hard to stop a shooter with OC or be accurate with a shotgun from 100 yards away or if your firearm jams because it’s not a quality product but has a nicer sounding name.

    There is a plan for how UMPD will be able to protect the community….right?

  • Enn Arre
    Feb 12, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    Thank you for noticing!

    Buzz words should be left to advertisers and instagram posters….not policing issues.

  • A Gopher
    Feb 12, 2021 at 1:55 pm

    Haha, hilarious! Now watch the admins destroy your comment as you named the chosen one.

  • A Gopher
    Feb 12, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    Why are you bringing so many facts to a feelings based discussion?