Overview

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

Read the full staff direction.

These two tasks make up the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Operational Assessment:

1. Study the staffing and efficiency of the MPD.
2. Review the codes Minneapolis 911 dispatchers assign to calls. These codes are called Problem Nature Codes (PNCs).

View the contract

Study details

Expected results

This study is:

• Not expected to give concrete answers about the number of officers MPD should have.
• Not expected to show exactly what public safety functions MPD should or should not perform.

It will be one of many tools that policymakers have at their disposal in making those decisions. The City expects to receive results from the MPD Operational Assessment in the fall of 2021. This will be partway through the City’s 2022 budget process.

The City expects the study findings and recommendations to address:

• The total staffing required to meet MPD’s current and future demand for service. Totals will include all personnel (i.e., including police officers, MPD civilian staff, or staff in other City departments). These results will help the City to weigh tradeoffs about where and how to assign public safety work.
• Current tasks within MPD that civilians could do, if any. This might include individual positions or programs. Recommendations may include retaining civilian functions within MPD or moving them elsewhere.
• Any administrative or operational changes that may increase MPD’s efficiency.
• Any potential improvements to the use, categorization, or prioritization of PNCs.

Vendor details

Selected vendor

The CNA Corporation (CNA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit corporation. CNA’s Institute for Public Research, Center for Justice Research and Innovation (JRI), will complete both parts of the MPD Operational Assessment.

Learn more about the vendor CNA

Scope of services

CNA will:

• conduct a workload-based analysis of staffing needed to meet demand for service in all areas of MPD.
• report on the use and prioritization of Problem Nature Codes (PNCs).

PNCs are the codes assigned to 911 calls at dispatch to show the type of incident that is happening.