The murder of George Floyd placed Minneapolis at the forefront of a national conversation about policing, community safety and alternatives to traditional law enforcement. From there, the idea for the Community Safety Specialist Program was born.
CoreLogic’s map for North Minneapolis shows an enormous swath of red from Golden Valley Road to the south, spanning the length of seven neighborhoods: Near North, Willard-Hay, Jordan, Hawthorne, Folwell, McKinley, and Camden.
In the wake of the George Floyd uprisings, a union of Black security workers and long-time community de-escalators in Minneapolis re-envisioned community safety through an apprenticeship. They’re already saving lives.