Minneapolis officials did not have to look far to find a director for the fledgling Office of Violence Prevention, picking a veteran of the city's efforts to curb violent crime.
Minneapolis names Sasha Cotton new violence prevention director
Cotton has served as the city's youth violence prevention coordinator since 2014.
June 22, 2019 at 3:07AM
Sasha Cotton, who has served as the city's youth violence prevention coordinator since 2014, will head up the new office.
Her immediate priorities include developing a strategic plan with "measurable outcomes so we can hold ourselves accountable and be transparent with the community."
"We're working with Cities United, a national technical assistance program to help us develop a process for community input as the first step," Cotton said Friday via text message.
Before joining the city, she held posts at the University of Minnesota's Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community and the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women.
The six-month-old office, which is housed under the city's Health Department, will have an annual budget of $457,000.
After a lengthy selection process for the director position, officials gave the job to Cotton. A familiar face around City Hall and police headquarters, she has won broad praise as the chief architect of Project LIFE, an intervention program credited with reducing gang violence in parts of north Minneapolis.
The move comes as the city contends with an increase in gun violence during summer. Through the first half of 2019, department records show the city has had 111 shooting victims, a nearly 17% increase compared to the same time last year.
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