Created: July 22, 2021 07:14 PM
This summer, Sasha Cotton and her staff in the Minneapolis Office of Violence Prevention found themselves with millions of dollars of new funding in their budget and a directive from elected leaders: find ways to stop violence without relying on the police.
The death of George Floyd sparked a national conversation on public safety. A majority of the Minneapolis City Council voted for a controversial plan to shift public safety responsibilities, money and resources away from the police department.
As director of the Office of Violence Prevention, Cotton has emerged as the face of the city's push to re-imagine what public safety looks like.