PPNA has been involved in the South Minneapolis Public Safety Coalition (SMPSC) for several years now, and the momentum of the group keeps building! One excellent connection we’ve been able to make is with 4th Judicial District Judges.
In July of 2018, PPNA and SMPSC convened 19 judges (plus 7 city & county representatives) on Lake Street. Community and coalition members walked through the neighborhood and were able to point out and discuss areas of concern as well as areas of success and growth along the corridor.
After that, the entire group sat down to talk about safety issues and how the courts can and will respond. You can read more about takeaways from that conversation in our Judicial Listening Session Summary.
Three months later in October, Judge Mark Kappelhoff attended an SMPSC meeting along with colleagues from the City of Minneapolis judicial system. He spoke candidly with the group and shared that the July gathering had left an impact on him and his fellow Judges. Judge Kappelhoff relayed that the listening session had been brought up several times in his conversations. He also described that the City is making changes based on community feedback, such as setting up specialty courts to connect people to health and human services resources.
Judge Kappelhoff finished by saying he has enjoyed and benefited from the conversation at these meetings and intends to continue attending and sharing what he hears with the bench. Having relationships at all levels of safety and the legal system has already proven to be beneficial to SMPSC, and we hope to keep growing!
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