The City of Minneapolis is launching a new pilot program to make south Minneapolis safer.

A new community safety ambassador program launched on Wednesday in the East Lake Street and East Franklin Avenue neighborhood.

“We got some good feedback. They’re excited to have us in the neighborhood,” Bilal Kinde, Metro Youth Diversion Center safety ambassador, said.

The Metro Youth Diversion Center believes that when trust grows, tension fades.

“Definitely have courage and be sensitive to people about what they’re going through,” Kinde said.

In groups of two, the team will engage with everyone from residents to business owners. The goal is to help prevent violence and steer residents toward resources.

“That they don’t have to live that way and steer them toward a new way of life,” Kiwanis Vilella, Metro Youth Diversion Center senior program manager, said. “There’s always power in numbers, and if you bring in a positive vibe, you’ll get positive results.”

“We looked for things like who has relationships with the community, who understood this body of work and who had solid financial practices. There was a lot of criteria, and Metro Youth Diversion Center fit all of those needs,” Amanda Harrington, Minneapolis Neighborhood Safety Department director, said.

The director said this effort is not the same as violence interrupters, but the program is similar to the downtown Minneapolis safety ambassadors.

“They’re not intended specifically to decrease violence or interrupt violence before it happens, but that certainly is going to be one of the many tasks that they perform when they’re out on the street,” Harrington said.

Harrington’s office is working with a $3 million budget to fund the safety efforts. She explained they’re currently spending $470,000 for this specific pilot program for the two cultural corridors and that will include 10 safety ambassadors and supervisors.

They also used the funding to set up their dispatch center, which will trigger a more immediate response. The rest of the funds will go toward future safety efforts in the city if the pilot is a success.

“We’ll be surveying people who have had interactions with the safety ambassadors and folks who maybe have never encountered a safety ambassador, so that we can know if this is helping that felt safety,” Harrington said.

The pilot program will run through March 2026 with an option of continuing for an additional two years based on results.

Officials will also consider expanding the program to other areas in Minneapolis based on its success.

In the past year, Minneapolis has begun devoting more resources to address crime in the pilot program’s focus neighborhoods, including the opening of a new Lake Street Safety Center.