Unity in Community Mediation Team receives $50,000 grant to help monitor Minneapolis police
MINNEAPOLIS – A group designed to help reform policing received its first-ever funding Monday to help them monitor the Minneapolis Police Department.
The Minneapolis Foundation granted $50,000 to the Unity in Community Mediation Team (UCMT) to continue community engagement work to transform policing.
"We're gonna put this money to work to help the community engage with this process of reform and transformation of public safety in our city of Minneapolis," said UCMT's Mark Anderson.
UCMT will use the money to open up satellite offices.
"We'll open up these sites within our community where communities feel safe and not threatened and where they'll feel more comfortable coming, filing complaints and get involved with the consent decree," said UCMT's Rev. Ian Bethel.
The offices open after Labor Day at seven community sites. But with this move in a forward direction, there are serious concerns.
"We must get some transparency with this whole process of hiring in the Minneapolis Police Department," Bethel said.
This group wants an immediate meeting with Mayor Jacob Frey to discuss what Chief Brian O'Hara knew or didn't know before hiring of Tyler Timberlake, a former police officer who was accused but acquitted of abuse while on duty in Virginia.
"I'm concerned more about our MOU but also about the consent decree," said UCMT's Al Flowers. "Because truthfulness is a big thing with MPD. It's in their policy about truthfulness, and I'm concerned that we breaking something here."
"As in my view as co-chair of the [Police Community Relations Council] have violated the spirit of the memorandum of understanding and now has lost credibility with our communities," Bethel said.
There is word on when or if Mayor Frey will meet with UCMT.
The group has applied to help monitor MPD while it goes through both consent decrees.
They hope to partner with other organizations to make sure all communities are involved in transforming policing.