House lawmakers consider plan offering new way to prevent crime in MN cities

The dramatic upswing in violent crime taking place nationwide and in Minnesota cannot be reduced by more cops on the streets and sentencing perpetrators to additional time behind bars.

That’s old thinking, inefficient and a waste of taxpayer money, according to experts who testified on a House bill that would fund community-based crime-fighting groups focused on preventing crime in the first place.

“The answers we received from experts, victims and even law enforcement prompted this bill’s focus on preventing and solving crime, as opposed to focusing solely on punishing crime,” said Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL-New Hope), who sponsors HF2724.

The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee took testimony on Article 1 of the bill Tuesday, then laid it over in order to hear testimony on Articles 2 and 3, scheduled for Thursday and Friday. There is no Senate companion.

Article 1 would establish and fund an Office of Public Safety Innovation within the Department of Public Safety, starting with a proposed $40 million appropriation for grants in fiscal year 2023 to be distributed to community-based crime-fighting organizations.

There would be $10 million in each subsequent year to fund the office, plus a one-time appropriation of $10 million in fiscal year 2023 for the Opiate Epidemic Response Fund.

Two-thirds of the grants would be distributed in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and one-third outside the area. Grants to individual organizations could not exceed more than $1 million each year.

Law enforcement agencies would not be eligible for the community-based crime prevention grants from this new office but would receive funds proposed in other parts of the bill, such as $2.5 million to purchase body cameras for officers.

Eight types of programs, services or organizations would be eligible for grant money from the new office:

• juvenile diversion programs;
• community violence interruption programs;
• restorative justice programs;
• co-responder teams;
• community-based mental health and social service centers;
• victim services;
• re-entry programs; and
• homeless assistance programs to provide a rent subsidy or temporary housing for formerly incarcerated individuals and families supporting formerly incarcerated individuals.

Patrick Sharkey, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University, said the proposals fit a new model of policing that avoids the pitfalls of over-policing and over-surveillance in high-crime areas, which can lead to distrust of the police in those communities.

Plus, it is unfair to burden law enforcement agencies with the job of solving all of society’s ills, he said, noting that it’s more efficient and effective to have community groups engage in crime prevention activities.

Increased community confidence in police agencies leads to more community cooperation with police, said Frazier, and that comes about when a community knows the police are supportive of these kinds of community-based crime-prevention groups.

During Thursday and Friday’s hearings, the committee is expected to take up other sections of the bill, including the $2.5 million for police body cameras, plus a $22 million appropriation to the Department of Public Safety to improve clearance rates for homicides and nonfatal shootings.

Other, more controversial portions of the bill to be discussed later this week would change how police officers are hired, trained, supervised and disciplined, and would allow the creation of civilian oversight councils with expanded powers over law enforcement agencies.