Mayor Frey signs 2021 Minneapolis budget; supports police staffing levels while advancing new community safety initiatives

Friday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey officially signed the city’s 2021 budget, which includes a varied approach to public safety.

The budget will maintain Frey’s proposed officer staffing level as well as investing in new community safety initiatives. Frey prioritized maintaining a sworn compliment of 888, a critical measure that will effectively provide city leadership with the ability to add sworn officers based on the results of a mutually-agreed upon staffing study and future economic conditions, according to the mayor’s office.

"As Minneapolis continues navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, we have collectively emphasized the need for a responsive and nimble local government across our work, from affordable housing to safety. This budget centered a both-and approach to public safety by better integrating social services into our emergency response systems while fully preserving the targeted officer staffing levels in our police department," Frey said. "These investments serve as an emphatic reaffirmation of our priorities and values since the onset of the pandemic: to help those who are struggling most and to continue delivering core city services no matter what."

Minneapolis City Council approves 2021 Safety for All Plan budget

The budget broken down includes:

Public Safety

The final 2020 budget:

• Preserves Frey’s proposed sworn compliment of 888 in full, giving the City essential flexibility to adjust staffing capacity in future years upon completion of an independent third-party staffing study endorsed by the mayor and council.
• Maintains Frey’s proposed level of staffing for 2021 as city staff projects heightened demand for MPD support.
• Builds on Frey’s initial recommendation to expand non-police alternative response capacity through 311.

Last week, Frey and Minneapolis Chief of Police Medaria Arradondo joined business, philanthropic and faith leaders from across Minneapolis to announce an initial $5 million commitment for the launch of the Community Safety Innovation Fund.

The mayor’s 2021 budget proposal included for the first time permanent funding for the Office of Violence Prevention’s MinneapolUS violence interrupters initiative.

Economic Recovery and Economic Inclusion

The final 2021 budget:

• Includes Frey’s $7.2 million increase in permanent funding for affordable housing work.
• Takes the mayor’s Stable Homes Stable Schools initiative, which has helped house or prevent homelessness for over 2,500 Minneapolis Public School children, from pilot to permanent with $2.2 million in permanent funding.
• Permanently boosts the City’s Affordable Housing Trust fund.