More than three years after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, sparking an international outcry, Minneapolis has a plan.
On Tuesday, the city released a report from a Harvard-based team that seeks to chart a long-term vision not only for law enforcement, but for the root causes of crime and how to heal from the trauma it brings.
What it lacks in specifics — there are no estimates for costs or personnel, or a concrete timeline — the report, titled "Minneapolis Safe and Thriving Communities," makes up for in ambition.
Chief author Antonio Oftelie called the 143-page outline "the most ambitious plan around public safety, community safety in the nation" and offered benchmarks to get it started over the next year, although he emphasized the vision could take decades to be fully realized.
While many of the ideas aren't new to those following police reform efforts — such as emphasizing alternatives to policing where officers with guns aren't needed — city leaders welcomed the report as a blueprint to overlay the various initiatives in scattered stages of funding or debate.
A host of city officials including Mayor Jacob Frey, City Council President Andrea Jenkins and Community Safety Commissioner Cedric Alexander hailed the report at a news conference Tuesday. All suggested they would adopt the bulk of its nonbinding recommendations made by a third party paid with nontaxpayer funds.
On Wednesday, the document will be formally presented to the City Council's Public Health and Safety Committee, where it will face vetting from council members not generally aligned with Frey and Jenkins and who have accused them of moving too slowly on reform.
The recommendations come as the city finds itself subject to a growing number of roadmaps and guidelines for public safety — some with the force of law behind them — after outside investigations issued scathing findings directed at the Police Department.
