Over two and a half hours, the Minneapolis City Council and Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo discussed work in progress toward a "culture change" at the department, as the discussion around the role residents want the police to have in the city is debated.
In a presentation to the Public Safety and Emergency Management Committee Wednesday, he laid out the tangible ways MPD is addressing staffing, training and accountability. It included a "vision statement" about the sanctity of life, valuing health and wellness of officers and social media concerns that he says is infiltrating throughout the organization.
Arradondo says he wants "transformational change" to be his legacy.
"I want that vision to outlast my tenure," he said. "This will be the future of the MPD."
Councilman Steve Fletcher says those values are important, but they should already be bedrocks of a trustworthy police department.
"That should be the absolute floor for where we're trying to get and the belief the community should have in the department," he said referring to concepts like honesty and the sanctity of life.
Councilmembers were supportive and praised his presentation. Councilmember Alondra Cano said he has the "hardest job in the city," and several more said he's earned their respect. Councilmember Linea Palmisano says she's seeing his vision in action.
"That was a very courageous move," she said. "You made several changes to leadership positions in your administration. You made several changes to inspector levels on up."
Still, they challenged the chief on on issues like racial profiling, efforts to tighten up the disciplinary process, and training.
The lengthy, but productive, discussion followed a more contentious presentation recently about Arradondo's request to hire 400 more officers by 2025, a 45 percent increase.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who ran on strengthening police-community relations, is slated to introduce his budget Aug. 15. Several councilmembers don't appear to be on board with the proposal for more officers, but nearly all public speakers before the committee meeting were. Most said hiring more officers would shorten response times to even the most urgent 911 calls.
Minneapolis resident Emily Collins says she understands councilmembers' concerns around addressing department culture, but that's only part of the solution.
"What example would you give of a work force understaffed and and overworked having a culture change for the better?" she asked.
ZoeAna Martinez with Lake Street Council says they hear from businesses who are concerned safety issues will impact their livelihoods.
"They hear it from their customers daily," she said. "Some of them, we don't know what their future holds on Lake Street and we don't want to see vacant storefronts."
