25-05-2025
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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