Brooklyn Park unveiled a first-of-its-kind youth violence prevention team on Monday.

The Community Intervention Team was established last year and has hit the ground running in the last couple of months, according to Community Intervention Manager LaTreasure Dickson.

It’s largely modeled after efforts like the use of non-profit violence interrupter groups in Minneapolis, but the difference in Brooklyn Park is that the unit is housed within the police department, she said.

“As you know, intervention and law enforcement don’t usually live in the same house, and so this is the first of its kind that we know of,” Dickson said.

Asked how conversations of forming the unit began, Dickson responded, “When I was brought on board, I asked that same question, and what I got was we had almost got to the point where we could predict crime, where we could predict the next person to be shot or be involved as a victim in some type of gun violence or group violence, and the Chief of Police as well as the Mayor and City Council decided that we needed to do something to step in.”

The team focuses on 25% of the city’s youth who are at “highest risk of being an offender or being a victim of violence.”

“We know that the 25%, like I said, are creating 90% of crime in Brooklyn Park,” Dickson said.

Khadija Frazier started as a youth and family intervention specialist for the unit in January.

When a crime involving a child occurs, she receives a referral from the police and follows up with the family.

“Some of my youth come from really harsh backgrounds, the majority of my youth do, to be honest with you,” Frazier said, adding that she was once in their shoes.

“I’ve been there, yes. I had a very, very difficult upbringing, and I know that the kids that I work with today, right now, they are facing very similar challenges that I did growing up,” she said.

“And I firmly believe, if I can get through anything, so can our youth.”

The resources that specialists help connect families include housing, food, tutoring, employment and summer programs, “just to name a few,” Frazier shared.

“We’re there to show you there’s another resource before a cop has to show up,” Dickson added. “We can do that for you.”

As a part of the police department, Dickson said the unit has unique and real-time access to case files and other police data about at-risk youth, but the work in their office does not inform police investigations.

The unit is comprised of two youth and family intervention specialists, including Frazier, a data analyst, and eight incident intervention specialists, also known as “BP Voices.” They are the most public-facing staff members, responding to calls with officers if needed, according to Dickson.

“It’s so working. It is going well,” Dickson reported. “And then, we’ve had so much success so far, only being out on the street for a month now.”

Fraizer said she was handling ten cases as of this report and noted a recent success with a girl she had been working with, who recently completed the first goal they set together.

“Her SMART goal was to attend class on time and to show up for school every day. And when you think about it, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s easy.’ But to some people, it’s really not,” Frazier said.

“It was just a big relief. She was like, ‘I did it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you did.’ I said, ‘We did this together, but most importantly, you did it. You stuck to it, and look at you.'”

“Most importantly, is we specialize in consistency,” Dickson said. “You will see us. You will hear us. You should speak to us. We want you to. And when we show up for those hard days, because we do, know that we’re there for you.”

The unit was paid for by state grant money as of this report, but Dickson said the hope is that it will eventually be fully funded by the city.