An independent analysis of Minneapolis's new system of redirecting 911 calls to free up police is showing progress.
It shows roughly 9% of calls are instead going to non-police services like the city's Behavioral Crisis Response Team, Traffic Control, or Animal Control.
Amanda Harrington with the Office of Community Safety says the report also recommends additional public-facing dashboards to track the work of contracted safety providers like violence interrupters who roam the streets at night working to head off shootings and other conflicts.
"We collect data from the vendors about how many people they serve, what are the outcomes of the service," Harrington explains. "Are we preventing future harm or future violence? Are we connecting people to resources?"
Harrington says longer-term recommendations include refinements to how the city is structuring it's new system to improve coordination and transparency.
The analysis of the program was done by New York University and Harrington says the data proves they're at least making a dent in reducing the strain on police.
"I think the biggest takeaway is we're not starting from scratch," she says. "We have some things that are working really well, and that gives us a strong foundation to build on. And now we have even more recommendations and help from a reputable institution like NYU to move some of these activities forward."
Last February, city leaders said the program, which had been building up for two years, had been an asset during the police shortage. The MPD continues to struggle to fill their ranks highlighting the need for more emergency call help for situations that don't always need police.