New director takes the helm of St. Paul's Office of Neighborhood Safety

The director of the newly minted St. Paul Office of Neighborhood Safety stepped into her new role aiming to expand community-first safety initiatives.

Brooke Blakey, a former Metro Transit police officer, took over the job last week. She said her years of community service and commitment to St. Paul will guide her.

"This job presents that opportunity to bring in my social service background, my law enforcement background, and things that I'm passionate about, things that affect my day-to-day, affect my family, and affect people that I love and care and socialize with," Blakey said.

Blakey was born and raised in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood where she learned about the importance of serving and being active in her community, from Rondo Days, to the Selby Jazz Fest to Cinco de Mayo.

Her late father was Art Blakey, who was the longtime police chief for the Minnesota State Fair and was a Ramsey County sheriff's deputy. Her mother and grandmother worked in health care.

"Community service was just our lifestyle. My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have all had some type of role within the community," Brooke Blakey said.

Her family's community engagement in the east metro inspired Blakey through her roles in the Ramsey County Public Defender's Office and the Minnesota State Fair Police Department.

She joins the city from Metro Transit, where she was chief of staff to Metro Transit Chief of Police Eddie Frizell. Last year, she and another officer were the subjects of an internal investigation involving a Minneapolis nonprofit. The investigation lead to no final discipline, transit officials have said.

Setting goals for the job

Blakey's first order of business is to establish a permanent Community-First Public Safety Commission. It will include residents, local stakeholders and public safety representatives including law enforcement, fire and public health.

The goal is to get to the heart of what safety looks like for each of those groups, and then use data-driven processes to figure out what practices — such as violence prevention strategies — can be best applied, Blakey said.

The office will be housed in the St. Paul City Attorney's Office. It will be funded by the city budget and American Rescue Plan Act.

Council Member Mitra Jalali, who authored the ordinance that established Blakey's office, wrote on Facebook how important it is to address public safety issues holistically, and not just react to violent crime with more police.

Blakey is in search of prospective commission members who have time to do a deep dive into this work. There is not yet a date set for the formation of the commission.