Brooklyn Center public safety manager resigns after 3 months
David Zaffrann, who was hired by Brooklyn Center to lead public safety reforms three months ago, announced his resignation Wednesday.
He was hired in January as a public safety implementation committee manager and to work with Mayor Mike Elliott, the Brooklyn Center City Council, community members and staff in the suburb northwest of the Twin Cities.
As proposed, the plan includes a new department with units that respond to mental health calls with social workers and other professionals and to traffic violations with unarmed citizens, among other initiatives.
The resolution came after Daunte Wright was killed during a traffic stop in April 2021 by Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter. The resolution creating the public safety re-examination also is named for Kobe Dimock-Heisler, who was killed by two Brooklyn Center police officers in August 2019. No charges were filed against the officers involved in that shooting.
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Zaffrann said he informed Elliott last week of his resignation that will go into effect at the end of the month.
“I want to thank Mayor Elliott for the opportunity to work with him on the implementation of the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act, and wish every success to the Implementation Committee and the City of Brooklyn Center in their efforts to do so,” he said in a statement. “I will be leaving to pursue other opportunities and will continue to support this project in other ways.”
Elliott thanked Zaffrann for his work and said the committee will work to find a replacement.
"I want to thank David for his service to the City at a pivotal moment in this work. He helped lead our work, get the Implementation Committee selected and begin its work and coordinated our research from numerous partners,” Elliott said in a statement.
Elliott said they will look for a replacement and continue to move forward.