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 percent and aggravated assaults down 11 percent compared with the prior comparative period, according to his slides. Gaters attributed improvements to data-driven deployment, targeted crime-pattern response protocols and partnerships with community groups. “These strategies are showing that they’re working,” he said.

Gaters said MPD has hired 42 officers so far this year across recruits, laterals and cadets and noted a recent hiring event that welcomed 18 officers (nine recruits and nine laterals). He said recruiting gains have, for the first time since February 2019, left the department with more officers than it started the year with, despite ongoing attrition.

Other departments reported Q1 activity and near-term priorities. Amanda Harrington, Director of Community Safety Design and Implementation, said New York University’s Policing Project is conducting ride-alongs and producing draft policies to expand alternatives to arrest and examine first-responder data processes. Harrington also said the city has completed 46 recommendations from the Safe and Thriving Communities report and the NYU asset-and-gaps analysis and is forming a Safe and Thriving Communities Advisory Work Group to begin July 2025.

Rachel Sayer, Director of Emergency Management, said Emergency Management is fully staffed and is revising ReadyCamp materials to a shorter, more accessible format. Sayer noted a lower-than-normal spring flood outlook but flagged summer air-quality and wildfire smoke risks and ongoing monitoring of H5N1 (avian influenza).

Fire Chief Brian Tyner said the Minneapolis Fire Department launched the 2025 MFD EMS Pathways Academy on March 10 with 20 interns (one subsequently left, Tyner said), and completed hiring for a class of 21 fire cadets set to begin training in April. Tyner also said the department transferred the behavioral-crisis response contract to Fire and is implementing ImageTrend software for upgraded incident reporting.

Joanie Houdney, Director of Minneapolis Emergency Communications Services (MECC), said MECC received roughly 84,000 calls in January–February 2025 (a 3.3 percent decline from the same period last year) and reported improved staffing and radio-shop integration; she described an upcoming CAD upgrade planned for the fall.

Deputy Director Leah Lakes of the Neighborhood Safety Department outlined hiring and procurement progress for violence-prevention contracts, new contractor procedures, invoice training and the planned master contract to speed procurement of community providers.

Committee members asked for more detail on backlogged investigative caseloads, timelines for neighborhood-safety partnerships on the curfew task force, and staffing details for the behavioral-crisis/behavioral-crisis-response integration. Staff said some numbers would be provided in follow-up memos. Chair Jason Chavez then directed the clerk to receive and file the update.