Public safety discussed Tuesday during roundtable event
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Gov. Tim Walz held a roundtable with city leaders and first responders in Eagan about protecting Minnesotans.
The roundtable comes after Walz met with community leaders in North Minneapolis Monday in the wake of increased crime and the deadly shooting of 15-year-old Deshaun Hill, Jr.
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The crime wave that continues to grow has state lawmakers trying to decide what to do next.
Walz is pushing for prevention, and says each city needs to decide what cutting crime looks like for them, and whether more officers are needed on their streets.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety is in full support of the multi-million dollar proposal.
“Governor Walz’s budget is the most comprehensive approach to crime I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been doing this for 50 years,” said Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington.
The Walz-Flanagan budget to move the state forward includes a proposed $300 million in grants for public safety in local government to decide how to best prevent crime in their neighborhoods.
Another $30 million would be for the hardest hit areas to help minimize violent crimes in those cities.
The plan would also tack on financial incentives for agencies who are able to keep officers around and bring in new ones.
Meanwhile, Republicans are looking at their own solution, which pushes for aggressive prosecution for all offenses.
“If probable cause exists, prosecutors must move forward with prosecution and may not pick and choose which crimes to charge or exclude entire classes of criminal statute, as some are doing right now,” said Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove).
The Senate GOP plan calls for free college education and recruitment grants to get more officers in the door and harsher punishments for violent criminals.
A budget for cutting crime hasn’t been decided yet.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the proposed plans by Walz, and CLICK HERE to learn more about the GOP’s plan.
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