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Improving Safety and Policing

Across the country, we are seeing communities reviewing policies and procedures of police departments to determine whether there are changes or improvements to how we do policing. Brooklyn Park Police Department is a national leader in community policing. With a community that transformed quickly to having 1 in 5 residents foreign-born and one of the most culturally diverse communities in the Midwest, policing evolved. BPPD is constantly reviewing policies proactively to ensure that our police can continue to protect all lives.

After the tragic death of George Floyd, the City Council in partnership with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) reached out to the community to listen to feedback about police reform and racial justice. After that feedback was gathered the Human Rights Commission and the BPPD’s Multicultural Advisory Committee (MAC) developed a work plan. The HRC presented recommendations to City Council. At the November 30 meeting the city council hired Wilder Research, a St. Paul based research and evaluation group, to evaluate the Police Department. The final report was given to Brooklyn Park City Council on July 12, 2021 as part of their regular meeting.

We will continue to update this page with the latest information as we work to improve policing in our community.

Task Force

The Brooklyn Park Police Department Scorecard Community Task Force, appointed by the City Council in October 2021, was comprised of residents and owners of businesses and organizations within the city. Through a consensus process, this task force scored each goal of the Scorecard, and presented a report to the City Council.

The purpose of this Scorecard is to evaluate the Brooklyn Park Police Department against best practices in law enforcement. The goal is to help Brooklyn Park promote transparency, accountability, and positive relationships with Brooklyn Park residents and stakeholders. The Scorecard was developed as part of a study by Wilder Research for the City of Brooklyn Park.

Click here to view the report >

2022

January:

  • Brooklyn Park Mayor Lisa Jacobson, Police Chief Enevoldsen, and community leaders Bishop Harding Smith, and Spike Moss had a conversation about public safety in Brooklyn Park, moderated by North Hennepin Community College’s Vice President of Student Success, Julio Vargas-Essex

2021

January:

  • Wilder Research begins meeting with a committee to refine their research methods.

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

2020

June:

Human Rights Commission begins discussion on Police Reform.

City Council assigns them the task of identifying improvements to the police department.

July:

City Council hosts Police Reform and Racial Justice Community Meetings in partnership with the Human Rights Commission.

  • 7/14 West District listening session
  • 7/23 Central District listening session
  • 7/29 East District listening session

August:

Human Rights Commission and Police Department work together on addressing community feedback and reviewing police policies

  • 8/18 Virtual Listening Session

Human Rights Commission presents to Council their proposed improvements to police department

Listening Sessions Summary >
Virtual Listening Session Summary >

September:

  • 9/14 Police Chief gives update on changes within the department since 2014 and an update on crime in the community

Police Chief Presentation >

  • City Council asks Human Rights Commission to present recommendations in November

October:

November:

  • The HRC is presented their recommendations to the Council.

See list of recommendations

  • On November 30, the City Council hired nationally respected research and evaluation group, Wilder Research. The St. Paul based group will do an evaluation of the Police Department (including a scorecard) as well as the community’s root causes of violence and racial disparities. The evaluation will be completed sometime in 2021.

December:

  • Wilder Research begins working with city of Brooklyn Park.

Recommendations

Wilder Research created research-driven recommendations to improve community safety, and developed a tool to assess and improve the Brooklyn Park Police Department’s performance. They reviewed existing research on community safety and policing, analyzed Brooklyn Park specific community survey data related to the root causes of violence, and conducted interviews with residents and employees of Brooklyn Park. These are the recommendations:

Focus on prevention. 

To improve safety, Wilder recommends that the city should address inequities, and ensure that the social conditions where safety thrives are equally distributed across races and places in Brooklyn Park.

Improve interventions 

Wilder recommends that the city should explore using community-based mental health and substance use responses, school-based safety workers, and other efforts to reimagine police responsibilities. The city should also partner with community stakeholders to expand focused deterrence initiatives, and interventions including treatment and restorative justice. 

Assess BPPD for improvements

Wilder Research developed a scorecard to measure BPPD performance. We recommend the city, BPPD, and community members impacted by systemic marginalization and police contact partner to assess and recommend changes to BPPD.

Report documents

Frequently Asked Questions

Feedback

Contact: Improving Safety and Policing

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