Minneapolis mayor, interim police chief address violent crime in the city

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman addressed priorities for the police department, as well as the city’s response to violent crime on Thursday.

RELATED: Minneapolis residents look to city leaders to address surge in violent crime

In addition, both Frey and Huffman—who is in her first week as interim chief after stepping into the role on Jan. 16—discussed their efforts to hire community-minded officers.

When asked about a few of her top priorities for the department this year, Huffman said, "There is a lot of work I would like us to do, certainly strengthening our internal processes, like supervisor force review, so that we’re really making sure we’re managing risk inside the department is a critical pathway for us. And looking at investments to make sure that we are building the most skilled and most capable workforce, and ensuring that officers have adequate time for rest."

Watch the full news conference via the video player.

Earlier this month, the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association sent a letter to Mike Freeman, the Hennepin County Attorney, and asked for more aggressive prosecution to fight violent crime. In addition, mayors across the county also wrote a letter to Freeman, expressing concern with how criminals are being prosecuted.

As 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS previously reported, Freeman said his office is already working with law enforcement and doing everything it can, and added he understand the concerns from the chiefs and city leaders.

Last year, more than 650 people were shot and more than 2,000 robberies – including carjackings – happened in Minneapolis alone. That’s on top of a near-record number of homicides.