Earlier this year, the Minneapolis City Council approved contracts worth $3.4 million for half a dozen violence interrupter groups.

Two of them — MAD DADS and TOUCH Outreach — say they had hoped to be out on the streets by April 1.

But now, a month later, and in the wake of multiple deadly shootings in the city, they say there’s even more urgency.

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“There shouldn’t be holdups,” declares Muhammad Abdul-Ahad, TOUCH Outreach’s Executive Director. “We got lives out here dying. People losing their lives. People being shot.”

In a statement, Council Member Jason Chavez echoed those concerns. “Our community deserves to feel safe, and they are demanding answers,” he wrote. “The lack of contract execution is now impacting our communities tremendously.”  

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke with Amanda Harrington, the incoming Director of the city’s Neighborhood Safety Department.

She’s in charge of going over contracts with violence interrupter groups.

“Negotiating the contract took definitely longer than we expected,” Harrington says. “There were quite a few new terms in this contract compared to previous contracts.”

She says the council gave contract approval, but her department still needs to negotiate the terms.

Harrington says additionally, the city has partnered with “Cure Violence Global,” a Chicago-based anti-violence group.

“When we brought them in to do technical assistance, they gave us guidance on best practices for contracting with violence interrupters and we wanted to follow best practice,” she explains.

Harrington says some of the recommendations she’s considering include background checks, drug testing, and health insurance.

All of this, she says, takes time.

“The groups are anxious to be out on the street, just like we are,” Harrington notes. “But there are terms and conditions that we haven’t necessarily found agreement on. So, when this passed the council, we didn’t have all the terms and conditions negotiated with the individual vendors.”

The five violence interrupter groups slated to receive contracts with the city include Restoration Incorporated, TOUCH Outreach, the Sabathani Community Center, MAD DADS, and A Mother’s Love Initiative.

Under those contracts, they are to be paid between $619,000 and $708,000 each for a one-year term starting on April 1 of this year, with an option for a two-year extension.  

RELATED: Minneapolis City Council votes to not recommend violence intervention contracts

Both TOUCH Outreach and MAD DADS say they are patrolling the city streets, but on a voluntary basis.

“So, we still come out in the community every day,” says Jordan Nelson, the Executive Director of MAD DADS Minneapolis. “At the end of the day, the contract is important, but also at the end of the day, being in the community isn’t just contractually based, but it is definitely a plus, as you know, you can have more people to do the work.”

When could we see violence interrupters hitting Minneapolis streets again, working in tandem with the city?

Harrington isn’t predicting any specific dates, but says she hopes all five groups will be in place and ready to go by the summer.

She also says the city has plans to activate “safety ambassadors” to patrol the city during the day and a group violence intervention effort, along with one-on-one mentoring, to help interrupt people involved in gangs.

“Violence is contagious, just like the measles or a virus,” Harrington notes. “You have to stop it before it spreads to the entire community.”

Abdul-Ahad says he’s concerned the contracts will require specifics, such as smaller patrol numbers, like seven violence interrupter members versus more than 30, which is the standard practice for TOUCH Outreach now.

He says he hopes the city will act soon.    

“Not supposed to be gaps in services right now,” he declares. “Supposed to be out there April 1, and here we are approaching May 1. So that’s a huge gap, and you can see the uptick in violence is spiking.”