Minneapolis City Council delays vote on funding for police training site
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The Minneapolis City Council voted Thursday to delay a decision on funding for a new emergency responder training center.
The council was set to vote on whether or not to reallocate $5.6 million from animal control and traffic safety budgets to the training center project. After several tense debates, they voted to refer the issue back to city staff for a chance to revise the measure and answer questions from council members.
Council member Jamison Whiting suggested the delay.
“It is a good idea for a better training center,” Whiting said. “I think… this is the wrong time.”
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The council voted 7-6 in favor of delaying the issue.
The vote followed a long discussion Tuesday. The funding also came up in the council’s budgeting process in December; at the time, the council voted not to fund the project.
Several progressive council members who have spoken against the funding said they were ready to vote that day and opposed a delay.
Council member Soren Stevenson said he’d rather put that money towards other projects.
“This is something we need to dispose of right away,” Stevenson said. “We need to just decide that this is not our priority and move on to things that are, in fact, our priority.”
Council members pointed to a tight budget and the costs of the federal immigration enforcement operation.
The proposed facility would include training spaces for all community safety departments, including police and fire, and wellness services. The funding up for debate would have gone towards purchasing the proposed site — a 4.7-acre property in the Windom neighborhood of south Minneapolis.
Several council members opposed to the facility have said they would rather see the city make do with existing training spaces, or partner with other facilities around the metro area to train outside the city.
In a presentation to the council Tuesday, city staff said current training facilities are too small and would be difficult to upgrade. External reviews of the Minneapolis Police Department – required by the city’s settlement around police reform with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights – also found that the current space is inadequate and recommended a “one-stop shop” for training.
Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette said it’s a needed project.
“Our community safety teams deserve the tools and support necessary to do their jobs, and there’s no question that our current training and wellness facilities do not measure up. That need is not going to change,” Barnette said in a statement following Thursday’s vote. “We will take this time to continue to forge a path for this crucial project that has been in the works for more than five years.”
As proposed, the facility would cost about $38 million total, including the purchase of the land. The city would seek additional funding from the state for the project.
Several activists and community organizations have spoken out against the project. Several people attending the council meeting today unfurled banners and started a chant of “stop cop city” when the votes were tallied.
In a press conference last week, activist Nekima Levy-Armstrong called on the city to keep the money in other programs.
“That's what they need to be focused on, not building a new cop city and draining 40 more million dollars on top of how much we already spent on substandard policing in the city,” Levy-Armstrong said.
Whiting’s proposal to delay the discussion did not include a new date for a vote.
The city’s project proposal outlines a goal to design the facility later this year, with construction starting in late 2027 or early 2028.
