Chauvin Trial: 'High Visibility' Patrols Along Business Corridors

By Max Nesterak, Minnesota Reformer, February 24, 2021

Minneapolis city leaders provided more details on Wednesday on their preparations for the high-profile murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, set to begin in less than two weeks.

Preparations include frequent patrols along major business corridors to prevent arson and looting like that seen after George Floyd died under Chauvin’s knee outside a convenience store in south Minneapolis.

“The main focus is prevention,” said Minneapolis Police Deputy Chief Erick Fors. “Our business owners and residents along our city’s main commercial corridors … can expect to see high-visibility patrols that would include local police and our National Guard soldiers.”

Those corridors include Lake Street, Washington Avenue, Broadway Avenue, Hennepin Avenue and the Nicollet Mall, which all saw heavy damage from rioting over the summer.

The news conference was the second in what Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said would be weekly briefings during the trial on safety and security measures throughout the city aimed to assure residents and business owners that the city is prepared for international attention to turn back to Minneapolis for the trial and won’t allow a repeat of last summer with riots causing more than $350 million in damage.

While the city is planning for street closures and telling business owners they may board up their windows, city department leaders reiterated that the city will be “open for business” during the trial.

City officials also announced plans to create “healing spaces” for demonstrators to gather during the trial, although the details are still being worked out.

“We’re looking to identify places where people can safely come together to heal, grieve and process any trauma or anxiety that they might have,” said Sasha Cotton, director of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention.

The area around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, where Floyd was killed on May 25, will remain closed to traffic until the trial is over. The four-block area — called George Floyd Square — has been controlled by activists as a kind of “autonomous zone” since Floyd’s death. Frey said residents who live within a half-mile radius of the intersection will receive a survey this week on how they would like the city to reopen the intersection.

In addition to bringing in some 1,100 outside police officers and 2,000 National Guard soldiers, the city of Minneapolis is considering paying community groups to provide public safety and communication services.

During the civil unrest last summer, neighbors and activist organizations like the NAACP and the American Indian Movement organized patrols to prevent destruction and violence in their neighborhoods because police were often absent or overwhelmed.

“We recognize that last year a number of groups assembled on their own and we want to make sure that groups who are doing that kind of work are in direct coordination with the city and to the degree that we can, some of the groups are being paid to provide that level of support,” Cotton said.

The measure being considered in a City Council committee on Wednesday proposes community groups receive up to $175,000 each, with the city paying around $1.1 million overall.

That committee will also consider authorizing the police department to enter into mutual aid contracts with outside law enforcement agencies — at a cost of up to $1.5 million — if a state fund called the “SAFE Account” isn’t approved by the Legislature.

Gov. Tim Walz and a majority of Democrats in the Legislature support directing $35 million toward the fund, which would cover the mutual aid costs of local law enforcement agencies during emergencies. While the idea of a state fund has the support of law enforcement groups and some Republicans, the DFL-backed bill failed to pass the House last week.

Republican Minority Leader Kurt Daudt said he couldn’t support the DFL bill because it included “unrelated policy demands.” The bill would require law enforcement agencies to adopt a written policy on responding to public assembly, similar to one created by the state’s Police Officer Training and Standards Board. If an agency is found to violate the policy, they could be investigated and sanctioned by the state.

The bill also failed to get support from several Minneapolis DFL lawmakers from who said it gives too much to law enforcement without going far enough to ensure accountability for any brutality or wrongdoing.

During the civil unrest last summer, police officers used tear gas and fired rubber bullets into crowds, at times without provocation. At least one journalist and one protestor lost eyes after being hit in the face with less lethal munitions. The city of Minneapolis is facing a number of lawsuits for officer misconduct during the unrest.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, called the governor’s SAFE Account a bailout of Minneapolis and passed their own bill, which would take state funding from the city to pay for outside law enforcement.

Frey offered a rebuke on Wednesday, pointing to the assistance Minneapolis recently sent to the small town of Buffalo after a shooting at a clinic and nodding to the city’s key role in the state’s economy and tax collections.

“It’s not just us that’s presently dependent on the rest of the state. The rest of the state is dependent on Minneapolis,” Frey said. “The state of Minnesota is an ecosystem and that ecosystem is certainly dependent on its largest city.”

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