MINNEAPOLIS — At the corner of Ninth and Nicollet on Monday afternoon, about a dozen members of the nonprofit We Push For Peace kept a watchful eye on the streets, just as they do every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
They're just one of the community groups working with the city of Minneapolis to solve violent crime, particularly downtown, where serious crimes like assaults and shots fired have increased in 2022.
"You don't have to wait until something happens," We Push For Peace program director Pharoah Merritt said. "It's kind of getting ahead of the problem."
Two blocks north, at Seventh and Nicollet, members of A Mother's Love and 21 Days of Peace patrolled the area near a transit stop, Dayton's and the Mary Tyler Moore statue. Additionally, at various points on Nicollet, Minneapolis police have continued to place squad cars -- sometimes empty -- on the curb, along with foot and mounted patrols to display a visible presence more consistently.
Minneapolis Police haven't shared many details about their downtown strategy, but they said two and a half weeks ago that increased police patrols and more coordination with community groups would be a part of the new "Operation Endeavor."
"Just the presence alone, with the organizations and the Minneapolis Police Department, has been pretty good," Merritt said. "As long as we're working in tandem with police and community, and different organizations, I expect vast improvement."
Downtown business owners can only hope that's the case.
Ted Farrell, president of Haskell's Wine and Spirits, said he's noticed more officers engaging with people on the streets in the past few weeks.
"There aren't as many disturbances up and down. Whether we're really solving problems is left to be said on statistics," Farrell said. "It's good to see the police presence."
However, Farrell urged the city to provide even more resources.
"It's straightforward. More police presence is needed up and down," Farrell said. "We're patiently optimistic. It's changing, but it's changing at a glacial pace and we'd like to see a little bit more done."
When they unveiled plans for Operation Endeavor, Mayor Frey and Community Safety Commissioner Cedric Alexander acknowledged that police alone cannot solve the issues of violent crime, downtown or elsewhere.
We Push For Peace hopes to bridge that gap, with team members specifically certified in de-escalation and trained to deal with social problems like addiction and homelessness, which is evident on Nicollet Mall.
"First, you have to be aware that you can't look down on anybody. For whatever reason, life happens to people in different ways. We never know what someone is going through," Merritt said. "You might be having a bad day -- not necessarily a bad person -- and with that approach, it's easy to de-escalate the situation."
In a statement, MPD said, "Operation Endeavor is operational and ongoing, not only downtown, but across Minneapolis," but that "giving a status update on improvements Downtown and the effectiveness of the visible patrols would be premature at this point as we are still gathering and interpreting the data."
"But we can say that the initial analysis is promising," the department said. "For example, Operation Endeavor-related units were able to take 20 guns off the street in the first week alone. Be assured that we will soon begin to provide regular comprehensive updates every four weeks regarding the efforts of the MPD and its many partners."
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