MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Downtown Council highlighted what went well in downtown Minneapolis in 2022, in areas ranging from entertainment to public safety.
At its 67th annual year-in-review event held at the Armory Wednesday, speakers shared stat after stat. Overall, Metro Transit ridership increased 19 percent between 2021 and last year. The number of people attending games, concerts and events downtown also rose over 68 percent over the same timeframe and over 400 restaurants and retail stores opened downtown in 2022. It was also announced that U.S. Bancorp will remain in downtown.
The MDC said new leadership and strategies last year led to "amazing safety results."
In a video message, Minneapolis' first Public Safety Commissioner, Dr. Cedric Alexander, touted the September launch of Operation Endeavor, which he said uses data to get ahead of crime trends.
"It was truly a culmination of police and community and a business community, a residential community everyone working together," Dr. Alexander said.
He went on to say togetherness will remain crucial in the coming years. MDC reports that while violent crime rose 4 percent between 2021 and 2022 in the entire first precinct, which includes downtown, it dropped 35 percent in downtown's entertainment district. MDC said Operation Endeavor directly impacted that drop.
The newly appointed city police chief, Brian O'Hara, also left a video message, calling downtown a unique economic engine that sees less crime than other big cities.
"Clearly this isn't a victory lap but I think we're on the right trajectory now," O'Hara said.
Also on video, the newly elected Hennepin County Sheriff, Dawanna Witt, said her office is working with the Minneapolis Police Department to "apprehend violent offenders." Sheriff Witt also talked about keeping sports fans safe.
"On any given game day, thousands of fans travel to downtown Minneapolis to attend major sporting events," she said. "At these venues, they will see sheriff's deputies who are there to provide a safe fan experience."
MDC said another highlight was the return of Joint Beats, a partnership program between MPD, Hennepin County, and Metro Transit Police.
Mayor Jacob Frey appeared in person, participating in a panel discussion to talk about downtown's future and MDC's 2025 plan. The main message was to embrace downtown's next season instead of trying to recreate the downtown that existed before the economic and social disruptions.
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