Luana Nelson-Brown, who was in charge of the city’s violence prevention department, announced her resignation this week.

Nelson-Brown was appointed director of the Neighborhood Safety Department, formerly known as the Office of Violence Prevention, in 2023. That office coordinates Minneapolis’ safety-beyond-policing efforts, including boots-on-the-ground violence interrupters and the city’s once-lauded Group Violence Intervention (GVI) program.

The GVI program has suspended interventions with individuals involved in group violence since 2023, and the program manager running it has recently separated from the city as well. In recent months, Nelson-Brown has been under increasing scrutiny from City Council members wanting to know why her department hasn’t deployed violence interrupters to crime hotspots in their neighborhoods and why work that Neighborhood Safety previously did has gone dormant.

Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette informed council members on Tuesday that Nelson-Brown had accepted a new job outside the city and will be leaving her position on Saturday.

In a statement, Barnette praised her work. “During her tenure, Director Nelson-Brown worked to strengthen the organizational structure of the department and improved key processes and procedures. Several key positions have been filled in the past few months and under her leadership, the new team continues to refine organizational procedures that strengthen the department’s mission of neighborhood and community safety. … I thank Director Nelson-Brown for her service to NSD and wish her all the best as she begins a new endeavor.”

Barnette said he would serve as the interim director of neighborhood safety starting Sunday.

In a statement, Nelson-Brown said, “It has been an incredible privilege to lead the transformation of this department, building it from a collection of programs into a fully functional entity with strengthened processes and procedures that align with the City’s mission of prevention, response, and restoration. I am confident that the strong relationships we’ve established with our safety partners will continue to carry forward in this important work.”