A Both/And Approach to Community safety and accountability
Throughout his term, Mayor Frey has consistently advanced a both/and approach to community safety by working to ensure both effective and just policing and delivering on deep structural reforms. The mayor has launched a host of new safety beyond policing initiatives and piloted alternative response systems. He has also fought to ensure that Chief Arradondo has the staffing he needs for core public safety work and partnered with the chief and leaders throughout Minneapolis to rebuild and strengthen police-community relations.
Take a look at Mayor Frey’s united vision for community safety in Minneapolis here.
Enacting reform and instilling accountability
Mayor Frey has enacted a litany of policy reforms throughout his term and brought new, data-driven training curricula to enhance accountability and shift police culture. Those changes include:
Imposing disciplinary consequences for the department’s body camera policies and ultimately boosting compliance with those policies from 55 percent to 95 percent.
Overhauling the department’s use of force policy to make it as stringent as possible under state law.
Making MPD the first Minnesota department to implement the Attorney General’s taskforce recommendations on sexual assault investigations.
Aligning the department’s trainings with community values by banning warrior style training for both on and off-duty officers, proactively directing a City Attorney review of all future trainings. And most recently, bringing Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) training -- a new, data-driven curricula backed by Georgetown Law aimed at preventing misconduct and promoting peer intervention.
The mayor recognizes that the hard work of reform and breaking down structural barriers to accountability requires our enduring commitment. His administration will continue making meaningful changes at the local level and advocate for state and federal reforms that would empower local governments across Minnesota and the country.
improving community relations and adequate staffing
Mayor Frey is committed to following the data and creating a fully-funded sustainable, and effective community safety system that reflects our values. Minneapolis has seen a historic decline in officer staffing levels and has one of the lowest number of officers per resident of any city in the nation.
The mayor believes that we will improve public safety in all neighborhoods by investing in — not slashing — the work Chief Arradondo is leading, including hiring more community-oriented officers. He’s outlined a plan to not just rebuild the department’s staffing levels but to ensure that our recruitment and hiring processes prioritize bringing in officers grounded in community values.
Mayor Frey has consistently pushed to ensure adequate staffing levels. Throughout his budget proposals, the mayor has sought to help improve community relations through a mix of additional recruit classes and funding to hire new community-oriented officers.
Mayor Frey and Chief Arradondo revamped hiring and recruitment standards by prioritizing applicants who live in Minneapolis or have a background in social services, mental health work, or volunteering in our city. The shift will be key in the ongoing work to shift the department’s culture.
The mayor defeated the Council’s push to permanently defund and slash 138 sworn officer positions during last year’s budget markup and delivered on funding for ongoing partnerships with neighboring law enforcement agencies and officer overtime to help weather the department’s staffing shortfall.
Mayor Frey has outlined a plan to bring the department back up to its full capacity of 888 active officers within two years and will continue to assess Minneapolis-specific data in staffing decisions.
safety beyond policing
Mayor Frey firmly believes that not every 911 call needs a response from an officer with a gun and is a strong proponent of safety beyond policing. The mayor has taken the City’s safety beyond policing work to new heights.
The mayor put initial funding behind the City’s Office of Violence Prevention through his first budget proposal and has worked to thoughtfully scale the division’s programming and ensure its long-term success.
Mayor Frey allocated $2.5 million dollars of funding to the Office of Violence Prevention to create the MinneapolUS Strategic Outreach initiative where community members serve as outreach workers. They use non-physical conflict resolution, mediation, interruption techniques to de-escalate conflict, and then connect them with services that can assist with housing, medical and mental health support, and employment.
Mayor Frey expanded the use of the Mental Health Co-responder Unit which deploys mental health professionals to respond to police calls involving individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
Under the mayor’s leadership, the City has expanded the successful Group Violence Intervention initiative, which relies on a public health-based approach to curbing gun violence.