Follow-Up: Minneapolis Council Committee Votes 9-3 to Advance Elimination of Office of Community Safety; Full Council to Vote October 29
In Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, a City Council committee voted 9-3, with one abstention, after a public hearing on October 27 to advance a government-structure ordinance amendment that would eliminate the city's Office of Community Safety, with the full Council expected to take up the measure on Thursday, October 29. This is a follow-up to GSM's October 14 report on the office's future.
The Office of Community Safety was created in 2022 by Mayor Jacob Frey and the Council as an umbrella over the police and fire departments, 911 and mental-health response. Its commissioner, Todd Barnette, who earns about $400,000 a year, failed to win reappointment over the summer and is resigning at year's end while serving in an interim capacity. According to the city's description, the amendments would also eliminate the Performance Management and Innovation Department, consolidate racial equity, inclusion and belonging work within Neighborhood and Community Relations, and clarify the scope of the Neighborhood Safety Department.
The proposal is sponsored by Council President Elliott Payne and Council Member Robin Wonsley; the office's budget is about $16 million. Wonsley argues the office has failed and should be eliminated. Supporters of keeping it include the directors of the city's 911, emergency management and neighborhood safety functions; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison wrote in support, and other cities, including New York, are studying the Minneapolis model. At the hearing, Jamison Whiting said eliminating the office would strip out the body focused on non-traditional public safety.
Mayor Frey opposes the move. 'This wholesale elimination without a plan, combined with other proposed cuts to MPD, is not a serious proposal,' he said. Decisions on reallocating the funding are expected in early December.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：明尼阿波利斯市中心与三大道桥（资料图）。来源：GSM 城市站图片库 / Downtown Minneapolis and the Third Avenue Bridge (file photo). Source: GSM city-station image library.
- 2026-10-14Minneapolis Council Advances Plan to Eliminate Office of Community Safety; Mayor Frey Objects
- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: Minneapolis Council Committee Votes 9-3 to Advance Elimination of Office of Community Safety; Full Council to Vote October 29This story
