This Means We Need to Work Together to:

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• Transform our failing public safety system into one that works for everybody.

This means we invest in mental health providers, create victims' services, and provide resources for unsheltered homelessness. We are living through an important moment where it’s time we take a hard look at our status quo and take on the challenge, together, of doing things better. We have the exciting opportunity to step into a future that more fully reflects our shared values of equity, justice, and safety for all. 

 

• Address the root causes of crime and work to interrupt patterns of violence.

Police officers, staffed at appropriate levels, will continue to be a part of our public safety system, but we need to be more strategic with how we use and fund our public safety resources. We can’t expect police officers to be equipped to solve every public safety issue. We also can’t expect major structural and institutional issues within the MPD to be solved merely by reform. 

 

• Operationalize the results of the MPD staff efficiency study I funded to determine how much and what type of staff will help reduce crime in the city.
   

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Ways I’ve Led on Public Safety During My First Term: 

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• In 2018, I voted to create the Office of Violence Prevention to centralize and lead the City’s work to deepen our public health approach to public safety.
   

• I supported establishing a 911 workgroup to get real data on what residents need when they call 911 for help and inform the creation of more dynamic responses to better meet people’s needs.
   

• I have continued to support increasing resources for violence prevention, specialized mental health crisis response, and more -- urgent work that the horrific killing of George Floyd at the hands of MPD officers made brutally clear we need to accelerate and build upon.
   

• I have consistently supported funding to ensure MPD has adequate resources to respond to violent and extreme situations -- including an overtime fund I created last year with added transparency and accountability requirements -- I have also sought to make sure our police force is operating as efficiently as possible.
   

• I secured funding for an efficiency study that is in process now and will help us identify opportunities where the police can operate more efficiently and effectively. This will enable us to continue to reinvest in solutions we know community members want to see, including specialized mental health response,  non-emergency alternatives for report only calls and expansion of the great work being done by our Office of Violence Prevention. 
   

• There is widespread agreement in our community that the people of Minneapolis deserve a public safety system that keeps everyone in our city safe. To get there, we need to make sure the City is not just relying on police to respond to crime after it happens. Instead, we must focus on addressing the root causes and systemic problems that lead to crime and violence in the first place. We must ensure our police are working in sync with our mental health crisis response, with violence prevention programs, and with our communities.
   

• Read more about this in my article in the Longfellow Nokomis Messenger here.
   

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 I Will Continue to Address Ward 11’s Concerns About Community Safety by:
 

• Creating a system of public safety that addresses the crime we see in Ward 11, including advocating for investigations for property crimes and the fair enforcement of traffic laws.
   

• Continuing to meet weekly with MPD Inspectors who oversee our Ward 11 community to make sure neighbors' concerns are heard. I have built strong relationships with our local MPD leaders and continue to work in partnership with them to ensure Ward 11 neighbors receive prompt and appropriate responses to their calls.