A BOTH/and VISION FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY AND POLICE REFORM

Minneapolis is at an inflection point. Two days in June 2020 created distinct paths on community safety that continue to define how to move our city forward. On a Saturday afternoon last summer, Mayor Frey was confronted by a large group of activists at his home. They demanded he commit to defunding and abolishing the police department, and the mayor refused while citing the need for deep, structural reform and greater accountability.

The very next day, a veto-proof majority of the Council said yes to the same questions, leading to the proposed charter amendment on this year’s ballot. We shouldn’t have to be divided on this vital issue. On a wide variety of reform measures, there’s broad consensus and Mayor Frey is calling on elected officials and candidates to reject abstract talking points and join him in making real change—which can be achieved by a Minneapolis city government united in purpose, without the passage of Question 2 on the November ballot.

1. INTEGRATE ONGOING COMMUNITY SAFETY WORK

Mayor Frey supports breaking down the silos, and pursuing a comprehensive approach to community safety by bringing the City’s safety strategies under one department responsible for public safety through a phased approach that allows for community and expert engagement.

• The mayor has invested heavily in new community safety strategies throughout his term and supports better integrating that work by bringing these initiatives together under the purview of one department responsible for public safety work. Under the mayor’s approach, City staff and elected leaders will have ample time to get this major change right by engaging communities most impacted by both crime and police violence and fold that feedback into the legislative process.

• This approach skips the rushed 30-day timeline under Question 2 on the November ballot and avoids placing daily public safety operations in the hands of 14 different officials, which would inevitably dilute accountability. And under the mayor’s proposal, there is no uncertainty: the position of the chief of police will be retained, and Minneapolis will retain its police department.

2. Invest in more community-oriented officers

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. Mayor Frey 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. That’s why the mayor and chief added new criteria to the recruitment process, ensuring that the City is prioritizing police recruits with deep ties to the community, either through residency, volunteerism, or a background in social service and mental health training.

• Mayor Frey is pushing to invest in new technology and equipment like a state of the art early intervention system to both hold officers accountable and support officer mental health and wellness.

• A common thread running through all these initiatives: they require investing in new programming and just, fair policing — not one or the other.

3. Expand alternatives to policing

Mayor Frey will continue investing in public health-based solutions to crime and tailored response systems.

• Mayor Frey’s very first budget put the first wave of funding behind creating the Office of Violence Prevention. In the intervening three years, he’s taken community-backed violence prevention work further. In setting the city’s budget, the mayor has: expanded the successful mental health co-responder program, brought the Group Violence Intervention (GVI) initiative to more neighborhoods and younger age ranges, boosted investments in the City’s violence interrupters’ work, and expanded diversion and violence prevention programs.

• Mayor Frey will build on the successes of the Office of Violence Prevention and work collaboratively to scale the department’s work. After allocating the funding to create the new division, he has continued to invest in the success of OVP. And the mayor is working with City staff to identify new opportunities to continue implementing innovative violence prevention and intervention work at a sustainable pace.

• The mayor is committed to taking this collaborative, health-based approach further. Earlier this year the Biden administration invited the Mayor’s team to serve as one of 16 cities for a pilot program centered on curbing gun violence. Mayor Frey and his office are continuing to work with national experts in developing new programming and improve existing initiatives.

4. Pursue real reform together

Mayor Frey recognizes that the work of reform is an ongoing commitment and must be responsive to evolving data and best practices. Throughout his term, he has implemented a litany of policy changes before and after the murder of George Floyd, and he’s working to go further. Whether it’s local, state, or federal, the mayor has been specific when it comes to the changes he’s fighting to enact, and he’s inviting community and elected leaders to come together and pursue those changes.

• Mayor Frey has continued pushing to shift the department’s culture and enact police reforms. From overhauling the department’s body camera policies to a series of changes to the use of force policy and stronger accountability measures for the department, the mayor has focused on results and delivered on local reforms.

• Under the mayor’s leadership, the City has also cemented its commitment to accountability by doubling down on staffing the Civil Rights Department and strengthening the internal disciplinary processes and oversight.

• Earlier this year Mayor Frey and Chief Arradondo secured support from Georgetown to bring cutting edge Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE), which is geared toward enhancing officer intervention and accountability. Under the mayor’s leadership the MPD is currently pursuing additional training for Field Training Officers tasked with training new recruits in the field.

• Throughout his term, the mayor has focused on breaking down structural barriers to change and accountability that either prevent local action or go beyond the City’s authority. Mayor Frey has provided specific language for a change to state law that would grant mayors and police chiefs across the state to hold officers accountable by fixing the broken arbitration system, which presently overturns roughly 50 percent of disciplinary and termination decisions. The mayor is also advocating to grant the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board more authority to suspend officers’ licenses for misconduct and supports reforming the state’s qualified immunity law.