Office of Community Safety presents quarterly update; police report declines in several violent crimes

The Office of Community Safety delivered its quarterly Q1 update to the Public Health and Safety Committee on March 19, outlining progress on settlement-agreement work, pilot programs and personnel changes across public safety departments.

Todd Barnard, Commissioner of Community Safety, told the committee the enterprise continues work to implement the settlement agreement and that an independent evaluator published a biannual progress report crediting the city with movement toward compliance. “We continue and plan to continue to do the work, even without that consent decree being finalized,” Barnard said, referring to materials submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice and under review in federal court.

Assistant Chief Christopher Gaters of the Minneapolis Police Department reported year-to-date reductions in several violent-crime categories: robberies down 47 percent, carjackings down 40 percent, gunshot wound victims down 32 percent, auto thefts down 24…