[2] The ballot measure was part of the political movement in the aftermath of Floyd's murder by local political activists that sought to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with another system of public safety and divert its budget towards social services programs in the city, such as affordable housing, violence prevention, education, and food security.

[17][18] Civil leaders in Minneapolis and elsewhere began calling for reforms of the city's police force, including the defunding, downsizing, or abolishing of departments.

[20][21] On June 6, 2020, thousands of protesters marched in Minneapolis in an event led by local organization Black Visions Collective.

At the rally, United States Representative Ilhan Omar, whose Minnesota's 5th congressional district encompassed Minneapolis, denounced the city's police force as "inherently beyond reform".

[26] The June 7 pledge by nine city council members, though it represented a veto-proof majority, did not actually disband the Minneapolis police force and details about the next steps in the process were not defined at the time.

Some activists wanted to consider the idea of unarmed crisis response personnel and re-purposing the police department's $193 million annual budget for education, food, housing, and health care.

It was revealed in July 2020 that on June 7, 2020, the same day that they pledged to "begin the process of ending" the police department, Council Members Cano, Cunningham, and Jenkins used $152,400 in city funds to hire private security guards.

According to the mayor's office, the three council members had not asked for a Minneapolis police vehicle to park outside their home to maintain a security presence.

Others felt that the council had not adequately included voices from the Black community in the process and expressed the need to address public safety concerns as black residents were disproportionately victims of crime and witnesses of crime in the city, just as they were disproportionately victims of excessive police force.

[40] In December 2020, Council Member Alondra Cano declined to seek reelection to her seat representing the city's ninth ward that sustained heavy damage during the May 2020 riots.

[6] Decisions about the allocation of city resources and size of the police department came as Minneapolis had tallied its highest levels of violent crime in decades.

[11][43][5] The debate to reduce police funding in Minneapolis occurred as the city contended with persistently elevated levels of violent crime following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.

On June 17, 2021, the city council unanimously approved the release of $5 million in emergency funds to cover police overtime, which partially offset the budget reductions in December 2020.

The new entity sought to work closely with two existing local organizations, Reclaim the Block and Black Visions, that led police abolition protests rallies in June 2020.

By January 30, 2021, Minneapolis had 817 sworn officers under employment, but 155 were on continuous leave due to post-traumatic stress blamed on the response to civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

Due to the shortage of officers, the police department focused on responding to 9-1-1 calls as the city dealt with a surge in violent crimes such as homicides, shootings, and robberies.

[12][47] A coalition of progressive organizations—Yes 4 Minneapolis, Reclaim the Block, and TakeAction Minnesota—launched a petition drive in February to put the future of the city's police department before voters on the November 2021 ballot.

In July 2021, Hennepin County Judge Jamie Anderson ruled in favor of plaintiffs from the Hawthorne and Jordan neighborhoods in North Minneapolis, the part of the city with the highest number of minority persons, who argued that the city was in violation of the charter requirement to maintain at least 730 sworn officers.

On August 11, 2021, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied a city request to review Anderson's ruling, effectively allowing it to stand.

Judge Anderson ruled in favor of the residents on September 7, 2021, and barred counting votes cast for or against the Council-approved language.

The city council met in an emergency session and approved new ballot language later the same day which included an explanatory note which gave more details on what the amendment actually did.

[54] After an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the justices overturned Judge Anderson's ruling on September 16, 2021, allowing votes to be tallied, but by then, the City Council had already approved the clarifying language.

The exact structure of the new department, the services it would provide, the number of police officers it employs, and its funding level were not disclosed at the time of the vote and were planned to be revealed only if the amendment passed.

[61][62] On November 2, 2023, the city council approved a plan to create a new police station and community center serving the third precinct that would be located a half-mile north the building that was torched during the 2020 riots.