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Council Votes Tomorrow On Funding For Officer Recruits

February 11, 2021 9:18 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Contact Your Council Member to Urge Support for Much Needed Police Recruit Classes:

Tomorrow morning, Council will vote on whether to approve funding for recruitment classes in August and December that would add around 100 officers to the depleted Minneapolis Police Department. The MPD is currently understaffed and having difficulties addressing the issues in the city that do require police response. We are asking you to call or email your council member to urge support for the recruitment classes ahead of tomorrow's vote.

Ward 13 - Linea Palmisano
612-673-2213
linea.palmisano@minneapolismn.gov

Wart 10 - Lisa Bender
612-673-2210
lisa.bender@minneapolismn.gov

Ward 11 - Jeremy Schroeder
612-673-2211
jeremy.schroeder@minneapolismn.gov

Ward 8 - Andrea Jenkins
612-673-2208
andrea.jenkins@minneapolismn.gov

Background Information:

During the City of Minneapolis 2021 Budget process, the City Council approved a General Fund reduction of $6,427,000 from the Mayor's proposed budget of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).  The reduction is based on the budgeted cost for the Community Safety Officer program and the planned second and third recruit/cadet class for 2021. The reduction redirects funds to a Public Safety Staffing Reserve held within Finance and Property Services by the City's Chief Financial Officer. The City’s Police Chief can access the funds in the reserve by submitting a report to the appropriate City Council Committee detailing current staffing levels, future anticipated staffing needs, and the plan to deploy funds.  The aim of the staffing reserve is to ensure that recruitment and staffing strategies comport with broader City goals. It gives City Council the opportunity to ask questions of MPD and allows the Police Chief an opportunity to explain his hiring strategy for the Department.

The MPD has seen a significant reduction in active law enforcement personnel in 2020/2021 due to higher than anticipated attrition and leaves resulting in difficulty in meeting the public safety needs of the City.  Budgetary constraints, the lengthy lead time needed for hiring and training new recruits, and recent crime trends have aggravated the situation. 

The following activities will help meet the need for the additional deployment of law enforcement personnel.

  • Community Service Officers (CSO) work part-time for MPD while attending an accredited law enforcement program, or training/ for licensing requirements. Upon completion of the program and during the next academy opportunity, CSOs graduate into the MPD's Recruit Academy program. CSO classes most closely represent the Community, and play a multifaceted role in the MPD, assisting patrol officers in non-enforcement activities, responding to requests for service, maintaining department equipment, and assisting with traffic control (among other tasks). Between 1/2000 – present, 45.94% of CSOs identify as BIPOC, a significantly higher percent than other hiring classes.
  • The MPD has two Recruit classes and one Cadet class planned for 2021. MPD seeks to train a total of 104 new officers with these three classes in an effort to stabilize MPD’s sworn workforce and help meet the public safety needs of the City. The additional hiring classes will help ensure the Department’s ability to provide basic 911 service and to help replenish other units impacted by the unexpected attrition including Investigations.

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