Mpls. crime numbers good; community relations a work in progress

Minneapolis police were happy on Thursday to talk about how crime rates remained at historic lows in 2014. But Chief Janeé Harteau spent more time answering questions about how to improve relations between the police and people of color.

At a north Minneapolis press conference unveiling the crime data, several African-Americans questioned Harteau about what she's done to mend strained relationships with the black community.

Harteau said she's made a point to have face to face meetings with key community members.

"It begins with having conversation," she said. "I think there's a lot of misinformation on both sides. The thing that people fear is the unknown. And the more we have conversations and get to know each other. We're more alike than we are different."

The North Side has historically seen more crime and police presence than other parts of the city. North Minneapolis also contains neighborhoods with high concentrations of African-American residents.

Those factors have at times clashed, and led to sour feelings and distrust between some members of the black community and the police department.

Harteau made several public appearances at community forums last year in the wake of the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. However, she's kept a lower public profile since a grand jury exonerated the officer.

On Thursday, she highlighted some of her department's efforts to help improve the department's standing with communities of color.

She said all officers will be trained in impartial policing by the end of the year and the department has started a pilot program designed to build trust between officers and members of east African immigrant communities. The department's body camera pilot program has been underway for a few months, which Harteau has said will help reduce use of force incidents and citizen complaints.

Deputy chief Travis Glampe said about half the members of a new class of Community Service Officers are either women or people of color.

When asked what steps she's taking to reduce instances of officer misconduct, Harteau was frank.

"I'm incredibly proud of the members of this police department but we are made up of human beings and therefore there will be missteps. There will be issues," she said. "We are working on developing a very comprehensive early intervention system that will help us to be able to see things early on."

A draft audit from the Department of Justice last October was critical of the department's early intervention system and offered some recommendations to improve it.

During the press conference, police officials invited Sondra Samuels to offer her perspective on crime and living in north Minneapolis.

A longtime north sider and president of the Northside Achievement Zone, Samuels said she understands why some African-Americans living in the most crime-challenged neighborhoods feel like the police have forgotten them. But she said community members have to be willing to help officers fight crime.

"I believe that we will work things out in this city," she said. "We have to, because we need each other. We need the police. And the police need us."​