A partnership announced Tuesday will pair the Minneapolis Police Department with the city's NAACP and other groups in an effort to resolve conflicts between neighbors.
This comes after John Sawchak of South Minneapolis was arrested and charged after shooting his neighbor, Davis Moturi, last month. It came following repeated complaints to the police department from Moturi.
"We all believe that it is important to see collaboration between all these groups, community groups, that we strive for better and safer neighborhoods together," says Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara. "This is a team. We cannot have public safety without the public and we know that moving forward, addressing these issues, we will be stronger together."
Officers and NAACP staff will work with crime specialists and social workers to resolve conflicts between neighbors.
There are currently nine active call centers across the city that provide intervention services that police say could help quell situations before they become a criminal matter.
After the shooting, the NAACP had claimed there was a dereliction of duties by the City of Minneapolis in the way they handled the case. Moturi is a Black man, and the man who shot him, John Sawchak, is white.