Readers Write: Shooting of Davis Moturi, Minneapolis Department of Neighborhood Safety

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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NAMI Minnesota is gravely concerned with the incident involving a man with mental illness who shot his neighbor, according to charges (“MPD failed the resident shot by his neighbor; should take corrective action,” Strib Voices, Oct. 31). The neighbor took all possible steps to bring his erratic behavior to authorities. Unfortunately, no steps were taken to get him to treatment to address the behaviors. Ever since the Legislature changed the use-of-force statute in 2020, we have heard from family members and crisis teams who have interacted with police about transport holds under the commitment act. We are hearing more frequently that if the person does not want to voluntarily get into the vehicle, the police leave. Then the person does not access the treatment they need — at a time when they are exhibiting serious symptoms — and can go on to hurt themselves or others, often ending up in the criminal justice system instead of the mental health system. NAMI Minnesota has raised this issue with a number of organizations and state agencies, but the practice has not changed. Surely we can find common ground between helping transport people with serious mental health symptoms to the hospital and not using deadly force.

Sue Abderholden, St. Paul

The writer is executive director of NAMI Minnesota.

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What happened to Davis Moturi last week when he was allegedly shot by his neighbor, John Sawchak, is a painful reminder that our city still has a long way to go when it comes to public safety. Minneapolis residents continue to empty their pockets to pay for a ballooning police budget and soaring police overtime costs that are promised to bring us safety. But we are repeatedly reminded of the legacy of racialized policing and whose safety is prioritized. Moturi sought help from the proper channels and his safety was denied, delayed and disregarded.

The police and their defenders talk a lot about how criticism and the “defund” movement erode public confidence in their work. But what really undermines trust in the Minneapolis Police Department is stories like this. It had eight months to take action to protect Moturi and other neighbors in real danger, and it didn’t. Even after Moturi was shot and hospitalized, it waited five days to arrest Sawchak, but not before blaming the victim and politicizing its inaction.

Unfortunately, this story isn’t exceptional. We’ve experienced and paid for the brutality of the Minneapolis Police Department for decades.

I hope the city conducts an investigation to help us hold the police accountable and perhaps provides recommendations on investing in systems of care that actually keep our neighbors safe. In the meantime, it is clear that we need to rethink the way we’re approaching public safety and give residents responsive systems they can trust.

Kristen Ingle, Minneapolis

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When we talk about public safety, many people assume that police are the only way to keep our neighborhoods safe. But recent failures by the Minneapolis Police Department — including the shooting of Moturi after months of harassment and violent threats and the attack on residents of St. Anne’s Place shelter — demonstrate that the police are not equipped to handle even clear instances of interpersonal violence. We don’t need more attempts to reform the MPD. We need investments in housing, mental health treatment and other resources that actually keep people safe.

Colleen Powers, Minneapolis

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Could the Minneapolis City Council be any more hypocritical, banning no-knock warrants after the Amir Locke shooting and then demanding the police do something after the neighbor from hell Sawchak shoots Morturi for trimming his tree on their property line? Like Chief Brian O’Hara said, you can’t really have it both ways: de-escalation and a probable shootout situation with a mentally unbalanced suspect. I give O’Hara credit for admitting the department failed Morturi. At least 19 calls for help? Six violations of a court order for protection? This was a monumental failure, the result of a department understaffed as a result of City Council demonizing the department following the George Floyd killing and the banning of the no-knock warrant, again by City Council, following the tragic but righteous shooting of Locke.

Richard Greelis, Bloomington

The writer is a retired police officer.

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So let me get this straight, Mayor Jacob Frey. It’s too much to ask that police in Minneapolis stop killing Black men if we also have the audacity to expect the police to protect Black men from violence? That’s not “hav[ing] it both ways.” It’s expecting our police officers, who just received a hefty raise, to actually do their jobs. The motto of the MPD is to “to protect with courage, to serve with compassion.” If you think that’s too much to expect, you should step down.

Erin Burns, Minneapolis

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The story “A living nightmare” (Oct. 29) of a Minneapolis man allegedly shot by his neighbor following a year of racial harassment from the shooter is horribly tragic, and my heart breaks for the victim and his wife. But this incident is part of a larger and ultimately more tragic story.

Cops have a tough job. They are often criticized, when interacting with folks experiencing mental illness, for using too much force, and too quickly. And now they are being criticized for being too patient, resulting in this tragic assault. Part of what makes their job so hard is that we have assigned them the role of being the front line of our mental health “system.” (As if such a “system” even exists.) It’s an assignment they are poorly trained to fill. The MPD’s response was an improvement over some previous incidents, but there were better ways this could have been handled — if we had an effective mental health system — without anyone getting shot.

The man who was shot is clearly a victim. It is likely more difficult for most readers to understand that the shooter is also a victim. I don’t know the shooter, but I spent my career working in community mental health, and I can assure you that his life with untreated mental illness has not been a picnic. Incidents like this, and even worse, will continue until we get serious about addressing community mental health.

John K. Trepp, Minneapolis

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Early this fall the debate over the MPD’s new contract listed the more than $71 million in settlements paid out in liability claims since 2019 as reason to demand more competent service before contract approval. Low clearance rates were another sign of incompetence, as well as the MPD’s low uptake in Hennepin County’s juvenile car theft project that works to keep youth out of the criminal justice system by surrounding them and their families with support. Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette has often described a “public safety ecosystem” in which officers run from call to call. Yet the MPD and emergency services have done little to reign in the excessive overtime that degrades the quality of police service, nor has it acted to effectively triage 911 calls for appropriate kinds of response. Now the shooting of Moturi marks a new standard of MPD incompetence and has reignited the historical, angry defensiveness of the MPD and Chief O’Hara.

It’s clear after the 2024 MPD contract approval that the city has the public safety funds for professional and responsive law enforcement. All that’s needed is a firm guiding hand from Effective Law Enforcement for All and a judge to end Frey’s and O’Hara’s excuses and political posturing and finally make real and measurable progress on the MPD’s professionalism, including its patterns or practices of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Byron Richard, Minneapolis

The Oct. 29 story “Mpls. department under scrutiny” regarding an attempt to award a contract to the sister of a staffer, obscures a question: What’s the purpose of the Neighborhood Safety Department? Touted as “safety beyond policing,” it’s impossible to tell from the story what the department is doing with its $23 million 2024 budget — in part because its director speaks incoherently, when she speaks at all.

The City Council should stop wasting taxpayer money and spend it on hiring more police. At least we know what their job is. And the Star Tribune needs to do a thorough investigation of the department.

Pat Doyle, Minneapolis

The writer is a retired Star Tribune reporter.