Disagreements over the future of violence interruption programs in Minneapolis led to clashes between community members, city staff and City Council members this week. 

Much of the attention has been on how conversations around this issue have been conducted, but before digging into that let’s bring it back to the basics. Amid all of the confusion, community outbursts, infighting and finger pointing, the basic question was simple: Who should oversee the city’s violence interruption efforts? 

Some council members proposed temporarily moving the management of two violence prevention groups to Hennepin County — Group Violence Intervention (GVI) and Youth Group Violence Intervention (YGVI). With this move, the council would have sent $1.13 million to the county, which would have managed the groups through the end of 2025. 

Here’s what ultimately happened: Ward 2 council member Robin Wonsley, who authored the proposal, moved to indefinitely postpone the council’s vote on the issue during the council’s general meeting Thursday, and her motion was unanimously approved by council members.

Why the temporary move to the county was proposed 

Council members who supported this move have said they’ve lost confidence in the management and oversight of the city’s Neighborhood Safety Department, particularly under Mayor Jacob Frey’s administration. These members have cited multiple issues the department has faced over the last few years.

In a lawsuit last year, the city was accused of awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of violence prevention contracts without verifying how the funding was used. The lawsuit was recently settled, and the city agreed to start auditing violence interrupter groups beginning this month. 

Additionally, some groups with Minneapolis contracts said last year that the city stopped paying them. Former director of the city’s Neighborhood Safety Department, Luana Nelson-Brown, said in  a recent interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that these groups were not paid because they could not provide proper documentation that was completed. Nelson-Brown resigned January after she said she received “pushback” and “pressure” from several City Council members over attempts to strengthen the bidding process and financial oversight of violence interrupter contracts, according to the interview. 

Who on the council opposed the move? 

All council members voted in favor of postponing action on the proposal to move violence prevention and funding to the county. However, prior to this motion, Ward 4 council member LaTrisha Vetaw, Ward 8 council member Andrea Jenkins, Ward 13 council member Linea Palmisano, Ward 3 council member Michael Rainville and Ward 7 council member Katie Cashman opposed the move. Additionally, Ward 6 council member Jamal Osman said it would be hard to vote on the item without knowing for certain what impact the move would have on current services.

Cashman said more work needs to be done by the Office of Community Safety, the council and the mayor’s office to develop this department and make sure the programs are successful.

However, after speaking with officials within the department, Cashman said she learned more about how violence prevention programming in the city “fits together” and she could not support the motion to move management of the two programs to the county. Rather, she called on the council to recommit itself to working with the department and the people working in the city.

“It’s part of integrated strategies, and I’m worried that if we try to just take out one Jenga piece, which is GVI and YGVI, and pass that to the county, that the puzzle might all fall,” she said. “I can’t support taking out that piece.”

Vetaw said she is hearing from her constituents that they want the City Council to be responsible for violence prevention work and not pass it on to another governmental body. She said this issue felt similar to her to the debate around what should be done with George Floyd Square. Plans have been further delayed after the council’s proposal to turn the area into a pedestrian mall received no support from adjacent business owners. State law requires at least 50% of adjacent property owners to be on board with this kind of development. 

“This is the second thing on this agenda today where I feel like we’re working against what the people of Minneapolis have asked us to do — first thing being George Floyd Square,” she said. “People have spoken to what they want to see happen and there has been way too much conversation, in my opinion against what people are asking for. That’s the same thing with this,” Vetaw said of violence interruption programs. 

Council member Palmisano referenced the lawsuit against the department and noted that the settlement addressed many issues identified within the Neighborhood Safety Department. 

“Even if you believe that we need more time for reform. Even if you believe that we have overwhelmed leadership. Even if you believe there would be no additional cost to recreate this effort across the street at the county. Even if you disagree with me and the minority of others on this dais, you must know this will impact all GVI and YGVI work,” Palmisano said. “There would be a large gap in service at least.” 

Accusations across the isle 

Ward 12 council member Aurin Chowdhury said she was lost for words during the Thursday council meeting. 

She said she wanted to apologize to the public “because the amount of misinformation and disinformation that is just swirling around in our chambers and through the media has been untenable. I just do not believe the public is getting accurate information about what’s going on here.”

That sentiment was shared by multiple council members and directed mostly at Public Safety Commissioner Toddrick Barnette, who on Monday held a news conference in which he said, “Unfortunately, several council members chose to only support the efforts that would benefit them or their favorite nonprofit.” 

During Thursday’s meeting, Council Vice-President Aisha Chughtai attempted to question Barnette about this statement during her comment portion on the item to clarify which council members he was referring to and what evidence the claim was based on. She ultimately ran out of her allotted time, and Barnette never finished answering the question. 

Meanwhile, tensions reached a boiling point as community members reacted to the council’s proposal. The most outspoken council critic this week was Reverend Jerry McAfee, who disrupted a Monday budget committee meeting and shouted at council members. He also took to Facebook Live to continue to speak on the topic and attended the Thursday meeting with a group of supporters.

McAfee’s church and nonprofit have both received public money for violence prevention. His church, New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, won an over $300,000 city contract for violence prevention work, and his nonprofit 21 Days of Peace received $3 million from the Minnesota Legislature in 2023. 

Though Wonsley ultimately moved to take her proposal off the table, she said she would continue to hold the Neighborhood Safety Department accountable for how it administers group violence and youth group violence intervention programs.

What violence interruption is and its history in Minneapolis

In Minneapolis, the creation of the GVI program was inspired by former Minneapolis gang member Ferome Brown, who in 2005 co-founded the Urban Youth Conservation, a nonprofit that teaches ways to resolve feuds without guns. 

Under former mayor Betsy Hodges, Minneapolis established its Office of Violence Prevention in 2018, and in 2022 it was renamed the Neighborhood Safety Department. 

Community violence intervention programs focus on individuals most at risk of being a victim of or committing an act of gun violence, according to John Hopkins Bloomberg School School of Public Health. 

These programs are designed to preemptively reduce violence in areas most impacted through outreach. The Pan American Health Organization offers a four-step framework for preventing violence. These steps include defining the problem, identifying causes and risk factors, designing and testing interventions, and implementing and scaling effective interventions supported by continuous monitoring and evaluation.

Winter Keefer

Winter Keefer is MinnPost’s Metro reporter. Follow her on Twitter or email her at [email protected].

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