The City of Minneapolis has announced a coordinated Summer Safety Plan outlining how the city’s community safety network will work together throughout the summer to prevent violence, respond to emergencies, and keep residents and visitors safe during one of the city’s busiest seasons.

Operation Safe Summer

The plan kicks off with Operation Safe Summer, a multi-agency enforcement initiative led by the Minneapolis Police Department now in its fifth year. Running June 1 through 6, the operation targets individuals known to regularly engage in violent crime and has historically resulted in dozens of arrests, the recovery of numerous firearms, and significant seizures of illegal narcotics.

Partner agencies include the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota State Patrol, Metro Transit Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Plymouth Police Department.

Prevention and Community at the Center

Beyond enforcement, the city’s summer safety strategy prioritizes prevention and community engagement, covering violence prevention, emergency preparedness, youth engagement, and water and weather safety education through expanded community outreach.

The plan also includes public safety coordination for major summer events including Pride, Taste of Minnesota, Aquatennial, the U.S. Special Olympics, WWE SummerSlam, and Open Streets events across the city.

June is also Gun Violence Awareness Month, and the city is spotlighting coordinated efforts to reduce firearm violence through enforcement, public messaging, safe gun storage education, and community-based intervention programs. New this summer is the Firearm Assault Shoot Team, along with continued work from the Violent Crime Apprehension Team and weekend Curfew Task Force operations.

Officers not normally assigned to patrol will participate in bike, foot, and mounted patrols on weekends throughout the summer in neighborhoods with the greatest need, adding 30 more officers to the street without increased overtime costs.

Progress the City Is Pointing To

The city cited several data points reflecting recent progress on public safety. According to the city’s Crime Dashboard, three-year averages for most violent crimes are down more than 20 percent, with carjackings down nearly 40 percent. Shots-fired calls are less than half what they were five years ago, and non-fatal shootings have dropped 56 percent, from 582 in 2021 to 255 in 2025.

“We are making meaningful progress,” the city said in a statement. “But one crime is one too many.”

Safety Beyond Policing

The Neighborhood Safety Department will expand visibility and outreach through its Community Safety Ambassadors, MinneapolUS violence interruption teams, and community-based partnerships. Updated service maps and community outreach zones expand the department’s coverage areas this summer.

The Minneapolis Fire Department is enhancing water-rescue readiness with specialized boats positioned throughout the city and training in swift-water rescue operations, while also preparing public education campaigns on life jacket use, fireworks safety, grilling safety, and heat-related illness prevention.

The Emergency Management Department is coordinating severe weather preparedness messaging, and the Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center is increasing staffing during high-demand summer months and major events.

For more information on summer safety events, tips, and resources, visit the City of Minneapolis website and follow official city social media channels throughout the summer.

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Minneapolis has brought in an outside consultant in hopes of improving relations between the city council and mayor’s office.

A $1.4 million contract for “leadership development” and “executive coaching” with Madison, Wisconsin-based Darcy Luoma Coaching & Consulting began in October and is in effect through September 2028, with the option for up to two additional years.

City Clerk Casey Carl initiated the contract in September, and the City Council approved it by a unanimous vote.

Carl said his office brought the proposal to the council with an eye toward the first full four-year term of the mayor and City Council under the new “strong mayor” structure of governance. Darcy Luoma will focus on establishing strategy, norms and collaboration for council members and the mayor’s administration.

In addition to quarterly group sessions with all 13 council members, the mayor and cabinet members, the contract also involves one-on-one sessions and onboarding training for new council members.

While Carl said bringing in outside consultants on leadership strategy is a “very common tool” for city governments, he acknowledged that the contract is “in part a response to what we’ve seen in the previous term,” a reference to the often acrimonious relationship between Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council.

The mayor and council members frequently traded barbs over political disagreements, but perhaps the most extreme example came in August, when City Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai cursed Frey on stage at an Uptown music festival. Frey, for his part, has accused council members of engaging in “vote trading and political gamesmanship.”

Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said the first session was on its second day when a federal immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis.

A second session recently took place, to positive reviews.

“I do see that there are differences and that people are trying, and it’s a matter of just, yeah, making an effort, and if we make mistakes, try to learn from those mistakes,” Chowdhury said.

Jamison Whiting, a newcomer to the City Council, said being on the inside opened his eyes to why this sort of coaching is necessary.

“This city knows about the toxicity and lack of civility that has happened at City Hall, and so it’s something I have been looking forward to, and it went well,” Whiting said. “Engaging in those conversations, open and honest conversations where we are allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and actively move forward for the City of Minneapolis.”

So far, Whiting said the sessions have produced some norms that guide how officials interact with each other: no personal attacks, communicate in private before having open conflict at the dais, and hold each other accountable.

Frey was not available for an interview on Friday, but in a statement, he expressed his hope that the sessions would lead to more productive governance.

“Minneapolis works best when the people elected to lead it can work through disagreements respectfully and get things done,” Frey said. “We don’t have to agree on everything, but residents expect us to solve problems, not create more of them. If better communication helps us deliver safer streets, more housing, and better city services, that’s a worthwhile investment.” 

Chowdhury was confident her constituents would find the $1.4 million price tag to be a wise expenditure.

“I have only heard from residents that they want us to work our stuff out,” Chowdhury said. “… They don’t like seeing city council members fight over personal things. They don’t like seeing the high level of polarity between the council and the mayor, especially if it isn’t about the issues at hand.”

She said the work will be ongoing to find a sustainable path forward.

“To figure out what skills we need to sort out conflict without a third party, that’s the goal,” she said.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Darcy Luomo for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Minneapolis leaders will meet again for a coaching session in late July.

“I think that is how we build shared trust as a body that will hopefully move through the next four years,” said Whiting. “And if that comes at a cost, I think we better make sure we’re putting in the effort and time and trust to actually do that for our constituents.”