Alternatives to defunding: Who goes to help when police aren't needed?
Rather than cancel contracts with police departments, some local governments have expanded street outreach through nonprofit partners or looked to other preventative efforts that work parallel to, if not hand in hand with law enforcement.
Metro Transit: Since 2023, the transit agency has employed civilian Transit Rider Investment Program (TRIP) agents to check fares, provide customers with information about transit schedules and social service programs, and issue administrative citations, which are non-criminal fines. The 60 TRIP agents — which could grow to 100 agents by the end of the year — supplement the work of the Metro Transit Police Department and its community service officers, who are officers-in-training.
In addition, the transit agency's Homeless Action Team works with outreach staff from Mental Health Minnesota to offer services to passengers in crisis. Metro Transit plans to issue a request for proposals from more community-based outreach organizations later this year.
St. Paul: Under the direction of Mayor Melvin Carter's office, the city launched the Office of Neighborhood Safety in 2022 to implement the mayor's 'Community First Public Safety' framework, which oversees grants and investments in 'addressing the root causes of crime.' The office is run by director Brooke Blakey, former chief of staff to the Metro Transit police chief, and has funded violence intervention grant outreach and other prevention-based programs.
Last year, after ending a police unit dedicated to mental health follow-ups, the city launched a 'Familiar Faces' initiative to target support services, including housing, to the few dozen most frequent users of emergency services.
St. Paul Downtown Improvement District: The St. Paul Downtown Alliance and the Downtown Improvement District employ about 35 street ambassadors who walk streets and skyways and are available to escort downtown workers to their cars at night. Some are assigned cleaning duties for litter and graffiti. About eight to 16 street ambassadors are deployed at a time, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. The improvement district also coordinates a Safety Communications Center, which supports communications between the street team, private building security teams and the city police department.
Ramsey County: Through a pilot program started in early 2024, four St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health responders can be dispatched by the Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center to calls involving substance abuse that aren't overdoses or medical emergencies. Participating cities include Little Canada, New Brighton, Falcon Heights, Maplewood, Mounds View, Shoreview, Vadnais Heights and White Bear Township.
St. Paul Public Schools: In June 2020, the school board voted to stop paying the police department to staff the public high schools with school resource officers. In their place are 40 unarmed school support liaisons trained and paid by the school district alone, who try to build relationships with students and head off problems before they escalate.
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CBS News
28-05-2025
- CBS News
Metro Transit taking health-centered approach to Green Line safety
Metro Transit is teaming up with law enforcement and social service providers in the Twin Cities to improve the experience of Green Line riders, as well as help riders in need. It's part of an ongoing effort to make the Green Line on St. Paul's University Avenue safer after incidents of violent crime and drug use over the years. Metro Transit Police will work with seven city of St. Paul and Ramsey County agencies, including St. Paul Police Department, Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, health services and the county attorney. The collaboration takes a health-centered approach to public safety. "Everybody has been doing this work separately," said Metro Transit Interim Police Chief Joe Dotseth. "This effort brings us all together in a much more organized approach." Metro Transit's Homeless Action Team has utilized similar partnerships and outreach strategies for years. "We're out there trying to help those that are utilizing shelter on our system, trying to get them into shelter, into treatment," said Metro Transit Officer Kat Kompelien. Kompelien and the rest of her team, which includes other police officers and mental health specialists, ride the trains to meet people who need the help where they are. Kompelien says the HAT has moved more than 550 people into housing since 2018. "People who are causing a disturbance, there's law enforcement there but there's also an opportunity for us to get to the root causes of what's occurring," said Gloria Reyes, Ramsey County's deputy manager of safety and justice. Dotseth says riders can expect to see more officers this summer as part of a new Hamline-Midway police beat, but the interagency collaboration is an acknowledgement that cops aren't the only answer. "We need to figure out ways to actually change the behavior, and we have limitations about who can be jailed, who can be incarcerated," said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. Dotseth says the frequency of serious crime on trains and buses is "relatively low" and hasn't changed. The number of riders per day has stayed more or less steady in the last year.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Yahoo
Cops, service providers increasing presence on St. Paul's University Ave, Green Line
Law enforcement will have a more visible presence along St. Paul's University Avenue and the Green Line, and service providers will be guiding people to resources including addiction treatment and housing services, Metro Transit police announced Wednesday. A new initiative, Safe and Strong University Avenue, will bring together law enforcement, service providers and prosecutors. It's planned to last until at least the end of summer and may be extended. Metro Transit police, St. Paul police and the Ramsey County sheriff's office 'will conduct high visibility, coordinated enforcement operations on the Green Line corridor based on precise data … from our crime intelligence team,' said Joe Dotseth, interim Metro Transit police chief, at a Wednesday press conference near University and Snelling avenues. Metro Transit is 'developing dedicated police beats in this area, a proven approach that reduces crime and builds public trust through consistent officer presence,' including a Hamline-Midway beat, Dotseth added. They also have the Transit Response Unit, which is out on the system to deal with serious crime. The most serious crimes were up slightly on the Metro Transit system in the first quarter of this year, compared to last year, but down from two years ago. In the categories of robbery, assault, homicide, sex offense, theft from person, motor vehicle and burglary, there were 211 reports in the first quarter of this year (there were no homicides), compared with 200 in the same period last year and 291 in the first quarter of 2023, according to Metro Transit statistics. Safe and Strong University Avenue builds on Metro Transit's ongoing work to expand official presence on transit, which goes beyond police and includes community service officers and TRIP agents (Transit Rider Investment Program), Doseth said. 'This is not solely about enforcement,' he said. 'While serious criminal behavior will result in arrest, our collaborative approach prioritizes connecting people with services whenever possible.' Responders from St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health are working alongside the Metro Transit's Homeless Action Team 'to bring a public health approach to concerns that arise on public transit,' said Gloria Reyes, deputy Ramsey County manager of the Safety and Justice Service Team. Public health responders provide Narcan, along with referrals for services. Ramsey County's mental health response teams are also supporting people 'in emotional distress, helping stabilize situations and guiding people to long term care,' Reyes said. 'People who are struggling, people who are causing a disturbance, … there's law enforcement there, but there's also an opportunity for us to get to the root causes of what's occurring on the Metro Green Line,' Reyes said. '… We are seeing a public health crisis, and we need to bring our public health crisis workers out into the field.' Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said they've been meeting with Metro Transit police, St. Paul's police and Office of Neighborhood Safety, along with the Ramsey County sheriff's office. 'The light rail system truly belongs to the people,' he said. 'And we've had some challenges over the past few years. We're starting to see some better outcomes, but we know that we need to do more.' Since August, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office has been asking law enforcement agencies that present cases for charging consideration to designate which ones happened in the University Avenue/Green Line corridor. There have been 111 cases in the corridor presented since August and the county attorney's office has charged more than 80 percent of them. 'What we are asking for is better investigation on those cases and more information so that we can take the appropriate steps in the court system,' Choi said. That's led to prosecutors asking judges to issue orders to stay away from transit or geographic areas in some instances, and also to efforts to 'address the underlying reasons of their justice involvement, which oftentimes is mental health related or addiction related,' he added. For violent offenses, Choi said his office still seeks prison time or the recommendation under state sentencing guidelines, but many of the cases that emerge from the area are misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor level. Metro Transit ridership has been increasing, though it still remains below pre-pandemic numbers. There were 47.6 million rides on the system last year, compared with 77.9 million in 2019, according to Metro Transit data. Bayport couple found dead in home; natural causes determined Group calls for Target to apologize, St. Paul PD to look at false reporting after 2 men accused of being armed Wildfire evacuation orders lifted in northern Minnesota What Minnesota laws and policies changed after George Floyd? Here are 9 topics '100 deadliest days' on roads kick off Memorial Day weekend In the first quarter of 2025, proactive calls for police service by Metro Transit officers increased 55% compared to the same quarter last year. 'We're aggressively targeting quality-of-life violations that diminish the riders' experience,' Doseth said, which could include smoking on the train or people acting in a disorderly way. 'Serious crimes on the system remain consistently low.' In a fall survey, more than 40% of respondents said the system felt safer than it did six months ago, in part due to increased presence, Metro Transit said.
CBS News
27-05-2025
- CBS News
3 hospitalized after SUV collides with bus in Minneapolis, Metro Transit police say
Three people are in the hospital after an SUV collided with a Metro Transit bus in Minneapolis on Monday night. Metro Transit police say officers responded to the crash at the intersection of East 34th Street and Bloomington Avenue around 7:15 p.m. The bus was crossing through the intersection when a motorist in an SUV collided with it "at a high rate of speed," police say. WCCO The drivers of the bus and the SUV, and a bus passenger were taken to the hospital. The extent of their injuries is unknown. WCCO The crash is under investigation.
