First Steps for Safer Communities

Minneapolis City Council Members and Mayor Frey

SMPSC Logo

Since 2016, hundreds of community members representing households, businesses, and organizations have attended one or more South Minneapolis Public Safety Coalition (SMPSC) meetings or events. Our core goal has centered on trying to engage a variety of community members to inform and influence how best to improve livability and safety throughout the area.

We have used monthly meetings, surveys, judicial listening sessions, community-centered events, days on City Hall, emails, and phone calls to gather a variety of gut wrenching and heartbreaking calls for change. The underlying insight is the same. We are severely under-resourced to successfully change the trajectory and impact of livability and safety challenges throughout our community.

We know enough. Our ongoing and collective experiences have informed a group of needs that must be fully funded. Although we plan to take steps to center and capture community voices regarding ways to strengthen the health of our community, we have every confidence that the City’s 2021 budget should account for support of the following:

1) Minimum investment of $6.5 million to support coordinated street outreach geared toward violence prevention and supportive services in key areas within South and North Minneapolis.

2) Expand the City’s Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) department’s Great Street Program framework to Public Works at a minimum and invest at least $2.5 million to identify and deploy public works related resources to key areas in South and North Minneapolis.

3) Reimagine and redirect some existing City roles to provide administrative and supportive aid to County Probation Officers through a pilot initiative funded at $1.5 million.


The good news is, the current proposed budget accounts for some of the things we're calling for. But we know it's still not enough. Read an update here.

Find out more details about why we believe in these three points here, and learn more about our coalition at www.ppna.org/smpsc

Organizational Supporters:

Allina Health
Clare Housing
Corcoran Neighborhood Organization
The Family Partnership
Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Gifts & Foods
Lake Street Council
Mount Olive Lutheran Church
Neighborhood Development Center
Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association
Project for Pride in Living
Restorative Justice Community Action
Society of St. Vincent de Paul-Twin Cities



Sponsored by
Powderhorn_logo_rgb_powderhorn_logo_tag_rgb
Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association
Minneapolis, MN

To: Minneapolis City Council Members and Mayor Frey
From: [Your Name]

We have every confidence that the City’s 2021 budget should account for support of the following:

1) Minimum investment of $6.5 million to support coordinated street outreach geared toward violence prevention and supportive services in key areas within South and North Minneapolis.

2) Expand the City’s Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) department’s Great Street Program framework to Public Works at a minimum and invest at least $2.5 million to identify and deploy public works related resources to key areas in South and North Minneapolis.

3) Reimagine and redirect some existing City roles to provide administrative and supportive aid to County Probation Officers through a pilot initiative funded at $1.5 million.