Minneapolis Police Try New Strategy to Connect with Urban Native Community

Transcript

The Minneapolis Police Department is trying a new way to build trust with the urban American Indian community. Again, here’s reporter Melissa Townsend.

The Minneapolis police department has created a new community navigator position. Art Knight is Deputy Chief of Staff for the Minneapolis Police Department. He explains that this person is not a new patrol officer, but is part of the new Procedural Justice Division.

KNIGHT: Police response to a call is from a law enforcement standpoint. We are arresting people to deal with mental health issues. And we have to be looking at how we can solve that problem. And it shouldn’t be law enforcement doing it, because law enforcement is not equipped to do that. (:16)

The best case scenario is that Native residents of Minneapolis would trust the community navigator and use that person to connect with services when needs arise. That would be a pretty big change here.

LILLEGREN: The relationship between the community and the police department has been strained historically. (:06)

Robert Lillegren is CEO if the Native American Community Development Institute - or NACDI - in Minneapolis. He says he has been in consultation with police about this new community navigator position. He’s hopeful this person can be part of a larger strategy to build trust between urban Natives and the Minneapolis police.

LILLEGREN: To the extent that the liaison can really help the police department build authentic relationships in the community so that officers know and better understand who they are interacting with and who they are policing, that I think could change people’s behaviors. (:20)

The American Indian community navigator is one of 4 navigators being hired to serve specific ethnic communities in Minneapolis. The others will focus on the immigrant Latino community, the Somali and East African Community and the African American community.

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Melissa Townsend