Minneapolis' soon to retire Commissioner of Community Safety is clearing up some misconceptions before he steps away from the job.
In September, Dr. Cedric Alexander's retirement announcement came as a surprise considering he's been on the job for less than a year. Mayor Jacob Frey brought the 68-year old law enforcement veteran on board last August to set up and oversee an entirely new system of public safety, something Alexander says has resulted in record numbers of people coming back to the city and feeling safe again.
"And I mean record numbers and that's huge," Alexander told WCCO's Laura Oakes. "That says a lot, and that just doesn't happen by itself."
LISTEN: Hear Laura Oakes' full conversation with Dr. Alexander here
Alexander disputes reports that he has complained about not having the staff and resources to do the job. He says the fact that it is a brand-new office, it isn't fair to be critical of the process of building it up.
"No, actually I have not been critical," Alexander says. "What you're referring to came from a distorted report in which I never stated that, in that context. But let me speak to those resources, because when you stand up a new office for the first time, many times you've got to create new positions. Creating those positions, writing what those positions detail, being able to get funding for those FTE's (full-time equivalent employee), being able to go before council to make your point, those things take time. So it's not a matter of not having resources, it's a matter of a process that beyond you, that have to take place."
Alexander adds that he thinks the groundwork has been laid and he is confident the office will be successful in the future in keeping crime down, and keeping the community safe.
There also were reports that he's butted heads with Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and that he's been deliberately absent from significant public safety related events. Alexander denies those as well.
"No, that's not true and I think if you ask him, he would say the same thing," Alexander said. "You're always going to get these kind of stories and tales that come out. It's a distraction to us over here. And we don't have time to be distracted by that. Chief O'Hara has done the things I've asked him to do and he's done the things the mayor has asked him to do."
One of those events Alexander wasn't present for was when Attorney General Merrick Garland recently came to town announcing the results of a two-year investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department that will now turn into a consent decree. That means transformational change is required in the department after what was described as significant unconstitutional, or unlawful, policing for years in the MPD.
"That was not our press conference," Alexander says about his absence from that event. "That was a Department of Justice Press Conference. And if you go back and look at videos in other cities they've been in, and what they did here, there are two people that they want at those press conferences. That is the mayor and the chief of police."
Alexander's last day will be September 1. After that, he says he's heading to Montana to ride some horses and rustle some cattle before settling back into retirement.