Uptown Safety focus at August “Coffee with Katie”
Message by Katie Cashman:
Join Katie Cashman for this month’s “Coffee with Katie” community roundtable discussion at Walker Library (2880 Hennepin Ave) in East Isles on Wednesday, August 21st, 6-7:30pm. We know that residents, businesses, and owners in the Uptown area have been struggling through a trend of robberies, assaults, open drug use, and property crimes of all kinds this year. Many residents, workers, and visitors do not feel safe, and it further discourages investment in our commercial corridor.
Hennepin Avenue needs and deserves new resources and a new approach to change the trajectory. We all know how short-staffed our police department is, and it's critical that we deploy some complementary strategies to help reverse these trends. Establishing Safety Ambassadors in Uptown is a pilot strategy that was already funded by the City Council in the 2024 budget can be done using the same model that has proven successful in Downtown Minneapolis.
Contracted by the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District (DID), Block by Block is a well-established and professional vendor that employs workers with union representation. The DID funds 55 ambassadors each year who clean the public spaces, connect community members experiencing homelessness or mental illness to services and resources, provide an extra layer of security for commercial and retail businesses, and provide hospitality, guidance and more “eyes on the street.” Their presence helps pedestrians, families, shoppers, workers, business owners and residents feel safer as they move through Downtown.
The 2024 Budget approved by the Council and signed by the Mayor included $3m for 10 community safety ambassador pilots throughout the city, including $300,000 for Uptown. Since I started my term in January, I have been pushing our Office of Community Safety (Commissioner Barnette’s team) to implement the Uptown pilot program. $300,000 for Uptown Safety Ambassadors could cover over 5,000 hours of ambassador time, based on data provided by the DID.
Safety Ambassadors, hired and trained by Block by Block or a similar vendor, stationed along Hennepin Avenue would support 5th Precinct police by diverting some “lower priority” calls away from 911, allowing police to respond more quickly to violent crime. This is a proven tool we can leverage now to help restore community faith in our public safety system and quell the sense of “lawlessness” that has impacted our city since the pandemic. I ask you all to support me in urging the Mayor and Commissioner Barnette to implement this pilot program in Uptown immediately.
At this month’s “Coffee with Katie” I’ll be joined by two guests: Shane Zahn, the DID Safety Program lead, to share firsthand about the effectiveness of the downtown ambassadors; and Lesley Kandaras, the General Manager of Metro Transit, to overview safety efforts at the Uptown Transit Station and transit stops along Hennepin Avenue. This is an opportunity for all of us to learn, ask questions, and constructively discuss ideas for securing more community safety resources for Uptown.
When: Wednesday, August 21st | 6-7:30pm
Where: The Walker Library (2880 Hennepin Ave), Bde Maka Ska Room