The Public Health & Safety Committee of the City Council has set a public comment period at the beginning of its next meeting to hear from the public about public safety.  This is the first opportunity for downtown residents to participate in the city council’s community engagement process about the future of the Minneapolis public safety system (see the following article).  Please take advantage of this opportunity to express your thoughts on policing, police responses, public health-oriented violence prevention, law enforcement reforms, and public safety needs in Minneapolis.

Public safety public comment period 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8
To comment at the committee meeting, sign up in advance on the City website.

On Friday, October 2nd,  the City Council approved an outline for its  community engagement process on the future of policing and public safety.

The process is divided into four parts:

             Phase One (October 2020 – December 2020):  A community survey and public forums focused on the current model of community safety and opportunities for changes, with a synthesis of initial themes presented to the Council in early December along with a draft vision for consideration and adoption by the Council

             Phase Two (January 2021 – March 2021):  Public forums where community members can review and confirm the themes and goals established in the first phase plus a deeper dive into ideas for a new public safety model to help inform draft recommendations of actions steps to realize the established vision and goals

             Phase Three (April 2021 – May 2021):  Opportunities to offer feedback on draft recommendations at public forums and online

             Phase Four (June 2021 – July 2021):  Recommendations will be refined and finalized, incorporating community feedback gathered throughout the engagement process, with a final report to the Council on strategies for building a new model for community safety

The process is guided by the principles of accessibility, and meaningful and inclusive engagement. It will be open to all community members who wish to participate.

Recommendations made through this process will focus on but may not be limited to intermediate policy changes, investments and partnerships that support a public health approach to community safety, alternatives to policing, and research and engagement to inform the potential creation of a new Department of Community Safety. There will be a review and analysis of existing models, programs, and practices that could be applied in Minneapolis.

This process will build on the work already underway to refine and improve our 911 response and shift certain calls for help to responders other than MPD. It will also identify resources needed to support recommendations.