University of Minnesota: U of M announces new community collaboration to address off-campus public safety concerns

Addressing public safety challenges in neighborhoods near the U of M’s Twin Cities campus will require new solutions, diverse perspectives and creative thinking. Recognizing this, University President Joan Gabel today announced the formation of the University’s first-ever Strategic Safety Advisory Committee.

“Our Twin Cities campus is fortunate to have the dedicated and hardworking officers and non-officer teams of the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) and Department of Public Safety. They do an outstanding job ensuring a safe environment on our campus,” Gabel said. “But we also know that the University community stretches beyond campus boundaries to the off-campus Minneapolis neighborhoods where many of our students, as well as faculty and staff, live.

“The University continues to invest significantly and partner with local agencies to enhance safety and deter crime. But urgent and real safety concerns demand more collaboration than ever before to find effective, layered solutions. That can only be accomplished by bringing together a group like this one. It will help us examine what tools we already have or need to support our partnerships with the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), and how we can enhance public safety in these off-campus neighborhoods.”

The Strategic Safety Advisory Committee will include University students, parents/family members, staff, and faculty, as well as representatives from the City, MPD and UMPD. Previous and ongoing public safety work clearly demonstrates that not all members of the University’s community perceive safety in the same way and the composition of this group will reflect that, working toward safety solutions that benefit everyone.

Specifically, this group will be asked to bring forward priority actions, that either the City or the University could undertake, that would:

Maintain a high level of safety on the Twin Cities campus while considering additional strategies for enhancing on-campus safety
To the greatest extent possible, enhance public safety in Minneapolis neighborhoods near campus
Maintain and promote inclusive safety both on and off campus, and
Communicate clearly the objectives, measures and results of public safety efforts on and near campus.
Invitations to group members will be issued this week and the University plans to have the first meeting as early as next week.