MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Dr. Cedric Alexander issued a public apology after becoming caught in a heated Twitter exchange Thursday night.
Responding to a person who tagged his account while asking about the number of police cars parked along Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Alexander first tweeted, "It shows an effort to increase police visibility throughout downtown and across the city if you didn’t see them you would complain about that wouldn’t you. Enough of the two faced talking from both sides of your mouth already!"
Throughout the night Alexander fired more tweets while responding to several other Twitter users, prompting criticism of what some saw as a brash and critical tone.
"As a resident of SE Minneapolis who lives in the shadow of the still-burnt out Third Precient (sic) building, I'm honestly shocked at how you're speaking to Minneapolis residents who pay your salary," another person tweeted. "Disagree, fine. The condescension leads me to believe you're not long for the job."
In response one to Dr. Alexander's retorts, Twitter user @Amityf said, "I understand that you're taking a lot of criticism around Op Endeavor. But you came to Minneapolis where relationships between police and community are at best, tense. Visibility on its own is not public safety; it just isn't."
"Actually you're wrong again," Alexander responded. "I'm not taking any criticism on Operation Endeavor, quite the opposite... ask the residents in North Minneapolis in which I bet you don't live there."
"It's clear you don't know much of nothing except how to be critical," Alexander added.
Operation Endeavor, announced back in September, is a new plan enacted by the city to fight crime. According to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, the plan will use data to determine which areas in Minneapolis are most impacted by crime, and allocating additional resources to those areas.
KARE 11 reached out to the office of Dr. Alexander and received a statement on the Twitter exchange on Friday:
"The way I engaged with constituents last night on Twitter did not meet the standards I hold for myself and the Office of Community Safety team. I care deeply about the success of our community safety work in Minneapolis, and I know building trust happens one interaction at a time. I regret the tone of my responses, and I’m committed to respectful, constructive engagement with the communities we serve."
KARE 11 also requested comment from Mayor Frey, who said in a statement "I spoke with the Commissioner last night. I appreciate his prompt response today to the community and members of the media."
As of Friday afternoon, Alexander's tweets had not been deleted.
The City of Minneapolis' Social Media Policy, which applies to all full-time and part-time staff, directs that employees are to be "truthful, courteous, and respectful toward supervisors, co-workers, City residents, customers, and other persons or entities associated with or doing business with the City. When a Covered Person can be identified as someone who does work for the City of Minneapolis, they must not engage in name-calling or personal attacks or other such demeaning behavior if the conduct would adversely affect their duties or workplace for the City."
Alexander was sworn in as Minneapolis' first Community Safety Commissioner on Aug. 8 after being nominated for the position by Mayor Frey in July of 2022. The position involves overseeing all police, fire, 911, emergency response and violence prevention efforts.
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