MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on Jan. 7, 2022.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced on Monday that he called upon county, city, law enforcement, business and faith leaders to bring back a private-public partnership that was first formed in the 1990s.
The partnership, called MN HEALS 2.0, which stands for Minnesota Hope, Education and Law and Safety, "should focus on the most serious of violent crimes, suburban as well as urban, with a particular emphasis on recent violent juvenile carjackings," according to Freeman's announcement.
In 1997, MN HEALS was launched during Freeman's second term as county attorney to reduce crime in the Phillips neighborhood, Freeman's office said in the announcement. Over 10 years, crime in the community dropped by 62%.
“While there are new and different considerations in 2022, we believe there are real lessons to be taken from that earlier success. The rebirth of MN HEALS in the new 2.0 iteration, must be broad based, comprehensive and bring new energy to crime prevention," Freeman said in the announcement.
With 37 municipalities in Hennepin County, Freeman said it's crucial that effective partnerships and coordinated approaches are shared.
"It is also important that we take stock of what is working, what needs to be re-evaluated, what we can learn from our own past successes and failures and to make sure this analysis is based on facts," Freeman said.
Members of MN HEALS 2.0 include:
- Reverend Jerry McAfee of New Baptist Church
- Bishop Harding Smith
- Charlie Weaver of Minnesota Business Partnership
- Steve Cramer of Minneapolis Downtown Council
- Chief Correy Farniok of City of Orono and President of the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police
- Retired Chief Mike Risvold of City of Wayzata
- Mayor Jim Hovland, City of Edina
- County Commissioner Debbie Goettel from the southern suburbs
- Commissioner Jeff Lunde from the northern suburbs
- Assistant Hennepin County Administrator Chela Guzman-Wiegert
- City of Minneapolis Councilmember Linea Palmisano
- City of Minneapolis Councilmember Lisa Goodman
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