Mayor Frey talks Minneapolis safety, homeless encampments in sit-down interview

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - How will public safety in Minneapolis look different in the new year? What’s next for downtown Minneapolis? How does the mayor feel about the new state flag? FOX 9 asked Mayor Jacob Frey these questions and more during a one-on-one interview on Wednesday.

FOX 9 asked the mayor about a whole host of topics, from crime, his vision for downtown Minneapolis, and the plan for the homeless encampments. He's also sporting a new look heading into 2024.

With a new mustache in tow, Frey outlined his plans for Minneapolis in the new year, starting with public safety.

"This next year, you're going to see a very aggressive campaign to recruit officers into the Minneapolis Police Department and retain the incredible officers that we have," the mayor said.

New data shows MPD is budgeted for 731 officers and currently, the department has 568 officers with 25 on leave, meaning the force is down almost 200 officers from its minimum staffing number. This news comes after a violent 30 days in Minneapolis during which there have been 13 homicides, compared to five during the same time period last year.

"2023 was marked by pretty significant reductions overall in violent crime … December was an outlier. We did see an increase. And so we want to continue the trajectory that we saw for those first, say 11 months of the year," Frey said.

Carjackings and shot-fired calls are down significantly from last year, for example. However, the city’s crime dashboard shows some categories have increased slightly, such as sex offenses and assaults. Non-violent crimes like car thefts and property damage are up from 2022.

Heading into 2024, the mayor said he has confidence in Chief Brian O’Hara and the new community safety commissioner, Todd Barnette.

"The work that we're doing and the team that we have in place, I'll tell you, is the right one," Frey said.

The mayor also provided an update on the homeless encampment called Camp Nenookaasi in south Minneapolis. A few months ago, the city contracted with Helix to help transition people in the camp to stable housing and indoor shelters. City officials said as of Wednesday, 73 people have been connected with housing options and another 14 are scheduled to move into housing soon.

"Our job is to provide the kind of compassionate care that people need, that they deserve. And at the same time, we recognize that these homeless encampments on a large scale like this are not safe," the mayor said.

Meanwhile, the mayor touted the 1,800 events in downtown Minneapolis this year. He said the city is moving forward with Nicollet Mall becoming a social district, but it must be done thoughtfully with businesses, entertainment, and music.

"If we're going to make a pedestrian-style mall, we want pedestrians to go there," he said. 

As Target, which employs more than 8,000 people at its downtown offices, continues its hybrid work approach, Mayor Frey said he's a big believer in in-person work but feels cities also must embrace the change that came with the pandemic.

"Things aren't going to be like they were in 2019. That doesn't mean worse. That just means different," he said.

He also believes in changing how spaces are used and said there are office buildings that are being converted into residential buildings, such as the Northstar East. One barrier to making these conversions, he explained, is the costs. 

Overall, he’s committed to shifting downtown Minneapolis and working with businesses to do so.

"What we see in neighborhoods like a North Loop or a Near East Side, we could also see in the core of downtown, and that means embracing change. That means having a number of different potentially weird uses that we haven't seen in the past," he said.

Mayor Frey told FOX 9 he does like the new state flag design and said he would welcome a new city flag in Minneapolis.