On Monday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took another step in holding police officers accountable and making the city safer through several new strategies.
Frey announced a 22-member Community Safety Work Group, co-chaired by attorney and civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, that will work to make recommendations on improving public safety in Minneapolis.
Armstrong shared that one of the key goals the group is looking at accomplishing is revamping the Minneapolis Police Department’s field training program.
But the group has put together several other recommendations, including looking at oversight into the department, improving recruiting efforts and accountability systems, and expanding violence prevention and behavioral crisis response programs.
The group recommended implementing a first-in-class police recruitment and training program focused on building a pipeline of future resident candidates within the city.
Armstrong shared that this, and the other recommendations, will help strengthen the MPD’s recruitment and hiring process — something that has been hit hard since the pandemic and the death of George Floyd — and other areas the department struggles.
“All of these recommendations taken as a whole and implemented effectively will result in a significant change to the way that the Minneapolis Police Department does business and how we address the rising violence that we have to deal with in our city,” Armstrong said.
Another public voice present at the press conference was Lisa Clemons, the founder of the group A Mother’s Love, who shared that she was both satisfied and disappointed by the announcement.
“I’m okay with a lot of things that they did on the police reform side,” Clemons said. “But, I’m very disappointed in the public safety piece on the violence that we are suffering and continue to suffer in Minneapolis.”
She shared that she would also like to see the city work together with community organizations to streamline work already being done.
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