How SafeZone Works:  By engaging community members, sharing information and working with business people, individuals, elected officials, governmental policy-makers, police and other non-profits.  Here are examples of some of the tools used:

Web Site-  (www.MPLSsafezone.org )  with links for members to the City Website (computer information-sharing platform) where members

• receive time-sensitive bulletins from police to e-mail or cell phones
• have access to news and articles relating to security, safety and important information for downtown businesses
• can view information about chronic offenders
• can provide impact statements to be used in prosecution
• can report incidents of crimes and attach files from their own cameras

Seminars- where hundreds of collaborative members receive information about criminal statutes of interest to them and  how to use them, how to document crimes to ensure the best possible prosecutions, how to provide impact statements for the courts, and how to use the SafeZone website and other resources available to them.

Membership Meetings- where the community receives information about efforts to make Minneapolis a safer and more livable city.

Radio Link- connecting security personnel with the police and other security personnel through special radios.  Those who have participated actively in this effort have been given lighted security vests to increase the public's awareness of the presence of security and the strong link between private and public security. 

Cameras- in the retail corridor in downtown were the beginning of the SafeZone.  These cameras help immensely in providing proof for prosecutions.  Efforts are underway to increase the monitoring of these cameras to fight crime as it happens.

Prosecution Protocols- by the City Attorney's Office, in close coordination with police to devote special efforts to the prosecution of repeat offenders and to obtain geographic and other effective provisions for probation. 

Summit Meetings- by industry, police and elected leaders to work collaboratively at a high level to find ways to improve safety and livability in downtown.

Hassle Factor Efforts- to repair breakdowns in the community that lead to criminal behavior.  The SafeZone works to make downtown cleaner and more pleasant in order to make Minneapolis safer to live, work or visit. 

Connection with Community Groups- that will work on root causes of crime, like Restorative Justice and St. Steven Homelessness group.

Police Officer Visibilty and Collaboration- T3 vehicles, Mounted Patrols, Joint Beats (Hennepin County Sheriffs Department, Metro Transit and Minneapolis Police Department) and Bike Patrol.

Perception Surveys- A collaboration of business partners participating in series of surveys to help measure, guide and influence change for safeness concerns within the SafeZone area.

New SafeZone Updates: