Officials from the Minneapolis Department of Neighborhood Safety, Minneapolis Police Department and Minneapolis Fire Department gave a presentation outlining its summer safety plans for the summer at the April 23 City Council meeting.
The Neighborhood Safety Department will focus on large events like the Twin Cities Pride Festival, Saloon Block Party, International Gold Cup and Open Streets Minneapolis, a multi-neighborhood event throughout different parts of Minneapolis, Community Safety Commissioner Toddrick Barnette said.
“Minneapolis just saw its longest stretch without a homicide in nearly a decade. That’s not luck, that’s progress,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press release. “As we head into summer, we’re doubling down on our work. Through strong partnerships with law enforcement and community leaders, we’re delivering safer streets, neighborhood by neighborhood.”
The Neighborhood Safety Department also plans to increase the visibility of community safety programs like the violence interrupters and the Community Safety Ambassador Program, Barnette said.
In terms of calls, the Minneapolis Department of Emergency Communications requested 311 calls be open during the 4th of July and the week of A Taste of Minnesota, according to Minneapolis 911 Director Joni Hodne.
The Minneapolis Fire Department will have mobile Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at events like Twin Cities Pride and a Taste of Minnesota, Chief Bryan Tyner said at the meeting.
He added that the fire department will also have boats on the Mississippi River in case people accidentally start a boat fire by shooting fireworks this summer, Tyner said.
Security planning for the summer is not limited to city officials. Neighborhood organizations and advocacy groups like the West Bank Association and Twin Cities Pride are working with police and the community to plan safety at the events.
This year, Open Streets Minneapolis will be hosted in different parts of the city during August, including Cedar-Riverside.
West Bank Business Association President KJ Starr said the Association has had previous safety meetings with community members and met with city officials to prepare for Open Streets.
The violence interrupter group Metro Youth Diversion will be more visible during the summer, Starr said. In combination with planning from the city, Starr said large events like Open Streets Minneapolis will be the best places in the city this year and not just for safety.
“It’s probably the safest day of the year because everybody’s out, and really exemplifies our orientation towards safety is that by having more people in the neighborhood, doing fun things together, you’re occupying the spaces, you’re making the streets as vibrant places,” Starr said.
Along with violence interrupters, Starr said she believes another way to increase the sense of safety is through beautification efforts.
“With our major issues being just open drug use, that continues to be something that we work on in multiple different ways, including environmental design, beautification, activation of empty spaces, helping people redesign their entryways,” Starr said.
Twin Cities Pride Festival starting in late June also has its security details planned out, Andi Otto, the executive director for Twin Cities Pride, said.
Otto said if anything were to happen, Twin Cities Pride has emergency contingency plans in case of dangerous situations.
“We work with everybody like we sit down with every official from Park Police, MPD, Fire, EMS. We talk about what if this happens, what is the plan of action or how do we prevent that. We have designated shelters for severe weather, and then we do things that are probably not as noticeable,” Otto said.
With the Twin Cities Pride Festival expecting around 650,000 visitors this year, Otto said he is thankful for the safety efforts in the city.
“Safety is something that we have taken seriously our whole entire existence. This year is honestly no different. I think we are more aware and we pay attention to things that are going on around us.” Otto said. “We do monitor social media in case there’s any potential threats that come in. We are just really fortunate that we’ve had this plan for a long time and so we don’t have to change a whole lot to ensure the safety of our community at our festival.”
