On May 6, 2021, the City held a community meeting to inform residents about violence prevention from a public health perspective, conducted by:

• Anthony Smith, Executive Director, Cities United
• Sasha Cotton, Director, Minneapolis Office of Violence Prevention

See recording and presentations

On January 26, 2021, the City held a community meeting to inform residents about:

• The City's work to transform community safety
• Upcoming chances to engage and give input

The City repeated this presentation on March 2, and the recording is available.

See the presentation

On December 31, 2020, the City revised the MPD’s internal disciplinary processes to:

• Boost accountability
• Enhance misconduct investigations
• Increase the likelihood that disciplinary decisions are upheld

See details at Police policy reform

City Council unanimously approved the Transforming Community Safety: Engagement Plan Outline and Deliverables. 

The plan outlines opportunities for community members to offer feedback on:

• Alternative responses to emergency calls
• Public health-oriented violence prevention
• Law enforcement reforms and changes to police protocols and practices

View the focus areas

Mayor Frey and Chief Arradondo announced a complete change of the Minneapolis Police Department's use of force policy. The new policy:

• Is as strong as possible under state law
• Requires officers to use the lowest level of force needed to safely engage a subject
• Requires officers to first consider all reasonable alternatives before using deadly force

The City Council shifted $1.1 million from the MPD budget to the Office of Violence Prevention.  The money funds the MinneapolUS Strategic Outreach initiative. 

Through the initiative, trusted community members:

• Serve as outreach workers on neighborhood-specific teams
• Detect potentially violent events
• Use various tactics to calm down situations before they become violent:
  • Informal mediation
  • Non-physical conflict resolution
  • Interruption expertise

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights launched an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). The investigation:

• Is the result of a civil rights charge related to the killing of George Floyd
• Looks into MPD policies, procedures and practices over the past 10 years
• Will determine if the MPD has engaged in systematic discriminatory practices toward people of color

Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council support the investigation.

Minneapolis Police Department reforms

Mayor Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced MPD policies, which:

• Tighten rules for officer body-worn cameras
• Prevent Minneapolis officers involved in critical incidents – including the use of deadly force – from reviewing body camera footage before completing an initial police report for the incident

Proposed City Charter amendment

The City Council approved a proposed charter amendment to be referred as a ballot question to voters.

Called the Community Safety and Violence Prevention Article VII and Article VIII Ordinance, the amendment would have:

• Allowed voters to decide whether to create a new Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.
• Proposed giving the City Council and Mayor shared oversight over the new department. Currently, the Mayor has sole oversight of MPD.

The Charter Commission:

• Continues to review the proposal
• Could put the measure on the ballot for Minneapolis voters in a future election

Read the Community Safety and Violence Prevention Article VII and Article VIII Ordinance

Mayor Jacob Frey filed a local emergency due to civil unrest caused by the death of George Floyd.

In December 2019, the City Council directed staff to review some parts of the City’s public safety operations. The assessment:

• Studies the staffing and efficiency of the Minneapolis Police Department.
• Reviews the codes Minneapolis 911 dispatchers assign to calls.

Learn more about the study

The Office of Violence Prevention:

• Provides strategic direction and coordination for the City's effort to reduce violence through many linked strategies.
• Is developing a new comprehensive plan for violence prevention in collaboration with community and other City staff.
• Collects, analyzes and reports violence-related data from across the City enterprise.
• Regularly connects with regional, state and national efforts to reduce violence.
• Established a Violence Prevention Fund that to help with community-led violence prevention activities.

Our Health Department launched a Group Violence Intervention strategy. This is a local version of a national best practice focused on reducing group or gang violence.

The Minneapolis Health Department launched Next Step, which:

• Is a hospital-based violence intervention program partnership with Hennepin Healthcare and North Memorial.
• Aims to promote healing and interrupt the cycle of violence for people who are victims of a violent assault injury.

In 2013, the City revised its Blueprint and joined the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention.

In 2008, the City released its Blueprint for Action to Prevention Youth Violence, a comprehensive citywide strategic plan.

View the Blueprint for Action

The City declared youth violence a public health issue:

• The Mayor and City Council gathered 30 community leaders and experts for a Youth Violence Prevention Steering Committee.
• The Steering committee created a comprehensive strategic plan called the Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence.
• The Minneapolis Health Department implemented The Blueprint. Our Health department's youth violence prevention work became a model that inspired other cities.