Commissioner, just just tell our viewers,
when, when did you make
the decision to retire and.
And just take me back to the
beginning when you decided that
this was going to be it for you.
Yeah, well, you know,
I already retired and Danny,
right, And I was already retire.
And when I was asked to
come a year or so ago,
come here and help stand up,
this Office of Community Safety,
it started out as an executive
order from the mayor.
And that was quite a challenge, you know,
standing up office for the first time.
And in a city such as this and the history,
it certainly had experience
over the last few years.
And we were able to really do se
some good things over the last two years.
If you remember last July,
the center was just the city was just
stricken with a lot of violence,
carjackings and shootings
downtown across the city.
And I knew then very early on in August
when I eventually arrived here that we
needed to do something very qui.
And Operation Endeavor was born out of that.
I don't have to tell you
about Operation Endeavor.
It became a household term and
but we had the numbers and the
data and the science to supporta
significant increase and decrea,
I should say in violent crime ad
carjackings and shootings etcet.
And we deployed a lot of resours
both from within our own public safety
platforms and support from our w
enforcement partners at the federal level.
And everybody did a
stellar job in that support.
And on top, we had to build new
relationships and work on old
relationships that had been bro.
Going back to going back to
civil unrest and in doing so,
it wasn't just getting
those relationships back,
but building those relationship.
Yeah, it's obviously been an eventful year.
You had your operation endeavor,
you get the DOJ investigation,
the state settlement.
You know some will look at your
tenure and it end up being just
a little more than a year.
But but tell our viewers why leave now
after just a little more than a year?
Probably why I leave now is probably,
yeah, ask myself that question when I
said why did I come back when I said I
was never coming back into the workforce.
So it's not a matter of this being for any
particular reason other than personal to me.
I feel that we've been able to
do a incredibly number of things
here in this past year,
which now sets the course for someone
coming behind me to carry this,
continue to carry this into the future.
So it for me it's not so much ay
now question as much as to me how much
have we accomplished the kind of pass
the baton now we have written id
we have utilized the playbook here in
this office in terms of how to d
and maintain relationships and you would
have seen those relationships pd
out in zooms in which we have called.
Hospitals, our sports executive,
our medical and hospital execut,
our community interrupter group,
you name it, law enforcement,
both at the federal, state, local level.
How?
When you know we're able to call
for folks to stand up with us ad
here's what we're preparing to .
The number of people who respond
who engage and want to be part f
what it is that we were doing h.
Because none of this could have
been done without them.
So it's not so much for me.
And why now?
It's about have we gotten to a t
where we've created this founda,
this launching pad that can nowe
this office of community safetyr
into the future and well beyond
anything that I would be able to
be around here long enough to d?
When you took this job, did
you envision you'd stay longer?
When I took this job, it was day by day.
And for me the most important thing for me
perfectly to be perfectly honest with you,
was the deal with the violence t
was so prevalent this time last year.
And to get a handle on that,
not just in the moment,
but how do we get a handle on
it that would have, you know,
some impact over time and at the same time.
Being able to convey to the community,
getting them able to get these,
this data and these numbers out every
month where violent crime was going South,
where people will feel a sense
of confidence that they can come
back into the city and feel saf.
And people put their toe in the
water and then they put a little
bit more of their toe in the wa,
their foot in the water.
And I think over the past couple
of weekends we've seen.
Weekends such as of of,
of the Taste of Minnesota to Pride weekend,
the Taylor Swift.
We've seen people just immerse
themselves back into this city a
way that I think we all feel ve,
very good about.
With recordbreaking numbers that
doesn't happen by accident.
That was a collective effort
of everyone in this city.
Every part of our infrastructure
of who we are as a city,
having some their fingerprints on this,
that's what made it happen.
All we did was coach this team,
but it's this community,
it's our business leaders,
it's our law enforcement officials who
took this across the gold line for us.
One of the things lately that that has,
in the eyes of some in the community,
undermine the police reform efforts was
the hiring of Officer Tyler Timberlake.
What was your assessment and hoo
you think Chief O'Hara handled t
situation with Officer Timberla?
Well, let me say this in return.
In regards to that, first of al,
let me say that that is an ongog
inquiry that is taking place internally,
which I'm not going to speak to.
I think the most important thing
out of all of this as we move
forward is that how do we alwayt
better at what it is that we do?
What do we learn?
As we move forward and we
all are subject to changes,
we all are subject to things
in which we can learn from.
And it's no different than
this role than I'm in.
You know, you make mistakes alog
the way and you learn from them.
You know,
rather it was a Twitter war you got into.
If someone to anything else thay
come about, but it's how we manage them,
is how we move forward.
And move forward in a way that's
going to be the best, you know,
to the best interest of the community.
And overall,
what do we need to keep this community safe?
I would tell you this about all
my platform leaders, Rather's,
Police, Rather's Fire,
as Emergency Management, 911,
Neighborhood Safety.
All five of those department hes
sit with me at this table every week.
All five of them.
And they do a tremendous job
in working with each other and
collaborating together and supporting
each other to do everything that
we can to keep this city safe.
That's going to have to continue time 10,
because as we continue to move
into the future,
the challenges don't in front o,
do not stop because we're going to be
challenged by things that are gg
to be totally out of our contro.
And it's how we meet that chall,
how we respond to it.
In, in, in, in,
how do we prepare and get out ad
of things before they occur too.
And you saw that happen with Operation
Memphis and you also saw that
happen with operations with Sum.
These are just not operations that are
giving a name that are meaningl.
These things are wrapped with a
great deal of support and energy
and data and science and analyts
go into all of these operations.
So that we're doing the very bet
that we can to provide a safety
net and get out us,
get out ahead as much as we can to the
issues that might be coming up on us.
What's your relationship like
with the chief and to see the
person to lead the department
through these continued efforts?
He is. And I think as he continues to
move forward and learn this job and as
we all continue to move forward and learn
these new jobs where we are undertaking,
I think we all deserve an opportunity
to to be able to do that.
And I wish all of my all of
my platform leaders.
The very best going forward,
but also want all five of them to know,
and I've said this to all five f
them is recent as last night.
I will always be here to be supportive
of you to be a resource to you t
anytime 24/7 and I mean that tom
and I've said that to the mayord
this entire enterprise as well .
Me being gone does not necessary
separate me from here and I'm as
going to be a resource here if ,
if if need be and.
I'll stop what I'm doing to certainly help,
not a fulltime job,
but to be able to help from wherever I am.
What
was the mayor's reaction when yu
told them about your retirement?
Now, we had a great conversation
and the mayor spoke very well oe
fact of the work that had been ,
but we were quite amicable in ts
of us sharing our experience ofw
things grew over the last year.
And and it has been a it's beena
real pleasure to be here at the city.
Just really my last question,
you answered it already,
but but when you look at now wh,
what lies ahead with the city?
Did any part of you want to stik
around to see the execution of the state
settlement and the DOJ consent decree?
Well, I won't be here physicall,
but certainly from afar.
I, like the rest of the nation
will have eyes on Minneapolis.
I certainly will have a differe,
a different view having been
immersed and being part of this
community for over the last yea.
And playing a role in terms of t
continuing to be on the trajectory that
it's on particularly around public safety,
more specifically around public safety.
I'll be here,
I mean I'll be this like any other citizen
you know across the country watching,
listening and and I'm very optimistic
that this city is going to move along
in a way that's committed into.
Be able to make the necessary
changes that's being asked of
them to be made by the state
and by the federal government.