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Justice & Public Safety

News Bites: Minnesota Immigrants, ICE, and Politics

A noise demonstration is scheduled in Albert Lea Sunday on behalf of a 23-year-old man with serious health issues who has been in ICE-related detention for 14 months. And Keith Ellison updates campaign volunteers on cases against ICE agents.
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DEEP DIVE: The Values of Trust, Data, and Strategy in Solving Violent Crimes

With the Minneapolis police budget under scrutiny for effectiveness commensurate with dollars spent, analysis of how Saint Paul public safety programs have been effective in some ways as a comparison, and the Hennepin County attorney election in play, I revisited notes from a conference held a year ago by the Minnesota Justice Research Center titled “Committing to Progress in Policing.”
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EXPLAINER: Minneapolis Policing Budget (updated 10/15)

As Minneapolis faces proposed property tax increases amounting to 11.3 percent — alongside cuts to public services, park hours, and municipal positions — public debate has intensified over funding priorities and fiscal oversight. Mayor Jacob Frey’s proposed budget allocates $246.8 million to the Minneapolis Police Department — more than the combined budgets of the Fire, Public Works, and Health departments. Of every $1,000 in 2027 property taxes, about $223 goes to policing.
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The Statewide Push for Police Reform

Over the last five years, 60 percent of officer-involved shootings occur in Greater Minnesota.
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When Data Is Misused

“My past should not predict my future. This is just a different way of labeling.”
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MWP Conversation: Transforming Justice

Transforming Justice: From Education to Police & Prison Reform, a live reporting event
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In the News: March 2021

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Trauma-to-Prison Pipeline, Restorative Justice for Vets, Bias in Protests and Sentencing, Reparations, other resources
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A Restorative Justice Model

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I noticed an increase in discussion about whether restorative justice could be an appropriate response to gender-based violence, including sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
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LEGACY STORIES: System of Crime & Punishment

1987: "A lot of it is chemical dependency problems and economic problems. It’s unfortunate that we don’t intervene in a meaningful way [first].”
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Reform Within Shakopee Women’s Prison

From 2013 to 2020, women imprisoned while pregnant had not committed a new crime — 77 percent had been incarcerated for a technical violation, such as violating parole by not checking in with a probation officer.
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Interactive Book Discussion Guide: “The New Jim Crow,” by Michelle Alexander

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If this new format elicits reactions, we will continue with this book in subsequent discussion guides, and apply this concept to other books in the future.
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Camden’s Reduction of Crime

New officers are required to knock on doors in the neighborhood they are assigned to patrol.
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How Albuquerque Is Tackling Community Safety

"Trained, unarmed professionals should be addressing calls on mental health, addiction, inebriation, and homelessness where there is not a threat to public safety."
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Casa de Esperanza: Reducing Gender-Based Violence

We want our families to stay together — we just want the domestic violence to go away. Currently the system makes us choose between one or the other.
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VIEW: Don’t Ask Stacey Abrams to Clean Up the Mess

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Messages of “Black girl magic” are not pro-Black women. They are reflections of a culture that continues to see exceptional individualism as the solution, rather than part of the larger problem.
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