Omaha city council members are discussing police reform as city leaders in Minneapolis plan to not only to defund the police department, but dismantle it altogether.
“I understand people being angry and I understand people wanting to see change. I understand people wanting to see immediate change, but you got to be rational at the same time,” says Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray.
When it comes to police reform, Gray said there should not be a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach. “We just can’t do everything just because we’re ticked off right now. We’ve got to analyze and take a look at things from the perspective of Omaha, not the perspective of Minneapolis, not the perspective of New York, not the perspective of Cincinnati or other places. We have to look at what best fits Omaha."
City Councilwoman Aimee Melton says police leadership has worked to improve the department. Melton noted that de-funding the police department and making wholesale changes could set Omaha back in its progress.
“Since Todd Schmaderer became chief about eight years ago he started working on that the minute he became chief, from previous chiefs who started the process. Chief Warren did some amazing things for the City of Omaha and I would say what we’ve done has continued to build on that,” Melton says.
Gray says there is still work to do in Omaha and around the country to improve police behavior and community relations. But he said people who want to defund police departments should be careful what they wish for.
“But to just willy-nilly do away and make wholesale changes, you can end up with a worse product than what you have right now."
(Photo: 6 News)