As a lot of you know, I live in ward 4 North Minneapolis. North Minneapolis has a distinct and constant problem with gun violence, an interwoven harmful relationship between some very young minds with entirely too easy access to guns.

Unfortunately up until now, the politics of trying to solve this problem has always been the same failing terrible ineffective answer – increase police staffing numbers to execute some non-transparent non-specific strategy.

This approach has not meant significantly different or better outcomes for the Black youth in my neighborhood, for anyone in my neighborhood, yet and still it is the only approach folks have been hollering for up until now. The only approach we have been offered by this city.

Which brings me to our current situation, our ward 4 CM at least willing to try something different, at least try instead of just feeding us the same failed answer we have been fed for the 10 years at least I’ve lived here, but much longer we are talking decades.

Our ward 4 CM Cunningham set forth a staff directive, which is basically a plea when it comes to MPD. He was begging for MPD, OVP, and community members/agencies to work together to use intel only currently available to the MPD to id the most active gang involved Northside people

Cunningham asked for the intel from MPD then asked OVP and community members to have the ability to wrap every possible resource around these offenders and their families. It’s an experiment for sure, a try, but an attempt we need after the abject failure of the MPD approach.

If these offenders refused to put the guns down, then there would be targeted enforcement to hold those specific people accountable.

A concentrated approach for young people and their families. MPD has refused to share data and claiming they lack the capacity to dedicate 1 officer to this approach, complete nonsense. MPD has been most intractable when it comes to the actual possibility of disrupting violence.

This has to come as a “staff directive” because the elected council member of ward 4 has no power to compel MPD to try or do or attempt anything, not one thing that could potentially help our ward. All that power resides in the Mayor’s hands.

So when @MayorFrey is penning sniveling petty vindictive missives, always passing the buck of responsibility to someone else, ask this mayor why won’t he compel his chief of police to enact a public safety directive from the person we elected to impact our ward 4 public safety?