CITY BRIEFS

Posted

Funding for Lake Street Improvements
This month, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded $12 million to Hennepin County to improve the Lake Street corridor and help alleviate traffic congestion, improve the efficiency of public transportation, and make the street more accessible for people with disabilities. According to Smith, the project will add bus-only and turning lanes and make accessibility improvements.”

Bettering the Block
This summer the city launched a pilot project called Bettering the Block to help identity and address safety, livability concerns. The pilot focused on the Lake Street, West Broadway and Franklin Avenue.

Police Investigations Update
The City Council’s new Pattern & Practice Investigations Subcommittee received a report and update on the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation of the city's police department and possible findings of illegal and racist patterns and practices. Interim City Attorney Peter Ginder indicated that they are still in the investigations phase, but they expect the investigation to make findings that will result in a consent decree, which is a legally binding settlement agreement overseen by a court-approved independent monitor. Ginder reported that there have been 43 consent decrees across the U.S. since 1994. Some have lasted a decade or more, including the ongoing court monitoring of police departments in Portland and Seattle.
He also said that the city was now holding regular closed, confidential meetings with the Minnesota Human Rights Department, and were negotiating for a court settlement agreement but not a consent decree.
Ginder told council members that they (and the public) would likely not see the agreement until it was completed. Then it would be presented in a closed session of the council before a vote would be taken. Only after it is approved would the public have access to it. It was unclear if the proposed settlement would include an independent monitor approved by the court as would be required in a consent decree.

Police drones
The police department have announced plans to begin using drones with cameras to observe and monitor areas of the city. The city's Public Health and Safety Committee held a public hearing on the plan on Wednesday, Aug. 24.

~ Briefs compiled by Cam Gordon

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here