Minneapolis opens temporary 'community safety center' on E. Lake Street

Minneapolis city officials and community groups celebrated on Monday the opening of the new Lake Street Community Safety Center, which will offer a variety of social services through providers and crime prevention specialists in one location in an effort to offer a more convenient and comprehensive set of community resources.

The center, which will be temporary, is run out of a former dental office at 2228 E. Lake St. next to the Lake Street light-rail station off Hiawatha Avenue. The concept behind the center is to bolster community safety beyond traditional policing by bringing service providers and case managers as well as police to a stretch of Lake Street that has struggled with homelessness, drug use and crime in recent years.

The center's public safety personnel includes 311 agents and crime prevention specialists. The center will also serve as a place where Minneapolis police officers can hold office hours, Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette said at the opening event. There will also be "community navigators," a representative for the City Attorney's Office and behavioral crisis workers.

"This is going hand in hand with community members along Lake Street facing some of the most challenging issues that our city could possibly deal with," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at the opening ceremony.

Along with the city's Police Department, Minneapolis park police will also be able to use the temporary safety center on E. Lake Street if they need to take a break or use the restroom during the day, said Amanda Harrington, the city's director of community safety design and implementation. The public will also be able to file police reports at the center.

The city has a two-year lease on the space while it develops a permanent and expanded community safety center at 2633 Minnehaha Av. Third Precinct officers have been headquartered in downtown Minneapolis for the past few years since rioters burned down the precinct during the civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd.

Several partner organizations in attendance lauded the new temporary center as a way to better assist the community. Lesia Dembley, a resource navigator for the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, said she will work one day a week out of the new center to help those who need help finding housing.

"I'm excited about the good work we're going to be able to do out of this location," Dembley said.

Some in the community, however, raised concerns. Dave Bicking, vice president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said he didn't think it was a good idea to offer social services in the same building where police are located, noting some people might be less inclined to seek out services if they've had negative experiences with the police.

"Which youth or drug users are going to come in for help at a police station?" Bicking said Monday. "That sounds like a very bad idea"

Frey emphasized the safety center is not a police precinct. Nobody should feel like they can't use the center, Harrington said.

"Yes, there will absolutely be police coming and going. ... There will be any number of staff coming and going, but really, everybody's welcome," she said.