Minneapolis city leaders are kicking off the third year of “Operation Safe Summer,” an effort to reduce crime and increase safety.

As the weather warms up, Minneapolis police explained violence ramps up.

“We have prepared for that considering all of the facts that affect crime in the city,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a City Council meeting on Wednesday.

The police chief and the community safety commissioner are teaming up to reduce crime and increase safety.

“We’re still at an elevated level of gun violence,” O’Hara said in the meeting.

City data shows the amount of gun violence continues to trend downward, but it’s still over 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

O’Hara explained teen violence has been and continues to be a challenge.

In the plan, the city plans to team up with different agencies to create more of a secure presence. The chief also explained they’ll use data and intelligence to put patrols in crime hot spots.

“Shifting from hotspots to bright spots really transforms communities,” said Andre Dukes, Northside Achievement Zone vice president of family and community impact. “The more that we can do fun activities outdoors and take up spaces that traditionally have been seen as hotspots, it can become bright spots.”

In Operation Safe Summer, the community safety commissioner set up programming to give teens support and activities to keep them productive and off the street.

It’s an effort the Northside Achievement Zone focuses on year-round.

“Create options for our young people and make sure that they have the support that they need,” Dukes said. “It’s really important that they feel like they have trusted adults and safe spaces.”

Dukes explained creating a pathway to opportunity will have a ripple effect on safety in Minneapolis.

“Prenatal all the way through high school, there needs to be systematic supports in place for children that follow them throughout their day,” Dukes said. “If we can set up that kind of a system, then we probably will see less crime, less violence.”

Operation Safe Summer is just one of several different plans in place to reduce crime including combating robbery sprees and late night safety downtown.

O’Hara said some proactive investigations have been taking place to reduce crime and the public will see those results this year.