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• There are now more than 130 public safety cameras in strategic areas of Minneapolis. North Minneapolis joined the city’s public safety camera network this year with the installation of 50 new cameras in the Broadway, Lowry, Lyndale, and Penn Avenue area. They join cameras already in use Downtown, in Cedar-Riverside, and in south Minneapolis.

• Minneapolis became the first city in the U.S. to integrate its ShotSpotter gunfire detection system with public safety cameras using the city’s new wireless network, which will be completed in early 2008.

• Minneapolis 911, police, fire, and other emergency services began using a new cutting-edge Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. The system provides emergency responders with more and better information on the way to emergencies than ever before. It also includes an Automatic Vehicle Location system that allows 911 dispatchers to see the location of every emergency vehicle in the city and dispatch the closest one when possible.

• The MPD and Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office worked to make Community Impact Statements available on-line for the first time. It’s now easier than ever for people to submit statements to the courts and have an effect on sentencing. In 2007, the number of impact statements submitted was double the number from 2006.

• Minneapolis focused many police initiatives to reduce youth violence and hosted two public forums on ways to reduce youth violence. Mayor R.T. Rybak and the City Council established a 32-member committee to develop long-range strategies for preventing youth violence. Working through much of 2007, the committee will recommend strategies to be implemented that will get at the root causes of youth crime.

• A new pilot program created by Minneapolis Police and the Hennepin County courts seeks to reduce domestic violence by setting up an easy way for people who have been convicted of domestic violence to turn in their firearms as required by law. Now, all Minneapolis police precincts can accept firearms.

• The City Council and Mayor Rybak approved new restrictions on facsimile firearms, the so-called “fake guns” that have been used in real crimes in the city.

• The MPD formed partnerships with other City departments in innovative crime reduction initiatives. MPD officers, Police Licensing and Regulatory Services formed Liquor in the City (LINC) to educate bar owners, managers and staff on the best ways to keep bar patrons safe and to deal with problem establishments. A partnership between the MPD and downtown bar owners and staff, called Bar Watch, has pushed crimes associated with downtown bars to their lowest rates in ten years.

• The MPD opened a new Special Operations Center in a former north Minneapolis elementary school, giving a new home to Police Academy, Police Activities League, Traffic Unit, Bomb Squad, Arson Unit, and the K-9 Unit.

• The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Rybak approved a new aggressive solicitation ordinance designed to combat aggressive panhandling. The First Precinct worked with homeless shelters and care providers to create an Outreach Team of resource experts for the homeless.

• The MPD worked with every neighborhood in the city to create a Neighborhood Policing Plan for each of the 83 neighborhoods. The plans address crime concerns specific to the area and measure crime reduction effectiveness. The plans will be updated annually.

• 835 guns were taken off the streets this year.