Policing: Part 1 – A Conversation with Nekima Levy Armstrong
We the People, LWV Minnespolis, July 30, 2020

Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Minneapolis/St. Paul lawyer and activist, discusses police abolition and public safety in the Twin Cities
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Policing: Part 2 – Defund the police? Conversation with Kandace Montgomery and Don Samuels
We the People, LWV Mpls, August 17,2020

Kandace Montgomery, director of Black Visions Collective, and Don Samuels, founder of Northside Achievement Zone, discuss community organizing and what it means to defund the police.

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Policing: Part 3 – Laws, Contracts, and Police Accountability
We the People, LWV Minneapolis, September 21, 2020

Rep. Carlos Mariani, City Councilor Linea Palmisano, and Professor Steven Rushin discuss police contracts in Minneapolis and how to incentivize fewer incidents of police brutality.

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Policing: Part 4 – Women on the Force; Mental Health Training - Dr. Tanya Gladney, Kris Arneson, and Laura Goodman
We the People, LWV Minneapolis, November 9, 2020

Dr. Tanya Gladney is the Department Chair and Law Enforcement Program Coordinator at University of St. Thomas in the Department of Justice and Society Studies where she teaches courses on criminal behavior, policing, and sociology. She has 10 years of law enforcement experience with the Capitol Police in Jackson, MS. Dr. Gladney consults and provides cultural awareness and implicit bias training for police departments and various organizations and groups. Dr. Gladney was recently appointed by Governer Walz to the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board.

Kris Arneson served on the Minneapolis police force for 33 years, and during her tenure she was appointed by Police Chiefs to serve as a precinct inspector for 8 years, a Deputy Chief for 3 years and an Assistant Chief for 2 years. She has worked with the Department of Justice to develop an early intervention system to improve police accountability. She now works with Vital Awareness as a Public Safety Regional Account Manager. She holds a Master’s in Public Leadership and currently teaches at the University of St. Thomas in their Police Leadership Master’s Cohort.

Laura Goodman has served as a Minneapolis police officer, sergeant, and Deputy Police Chief in a Minneapolis suburb, served as the Director of Public Safety for an urban university, and was an advocate for crime victims as the Minnesota State Crime Victim Ombudsman. She is currently an International Police Advisor for Education for Critical Thinking (ECT) and works with the National Center for Women in Policing (NCWP), emphasizing the importance of women in policing and working to increase their numbers.


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Reimagining Public Safety Part V – Dr. Matt Bostrom and Bob Kroll
We the People, LWV Minneapolis, December 23, 2020

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The Minneapolis 2021 Budget – Policing, Violence Prevention, and the Community
Civic Buzz December 30, 2020

Over the last few months, the Minneapolis City Council, through its budget committee, has reorganized the city’s public safety agenda by shifting dollars, programs and responsibilities of city departments. Our forum explored the Minneapolis 2021 Budget and its impact on the Minneapolis Police Department, the Office of Violence Prevention, and the community.

We were fortunate to have three speakers from the two departments most impacted by these changes. Medaria Arrodando is Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department and Sasha Cotton is Director of the Office of Violence Prevention. Both have been charged with implementing and managing the public safety programs mandated by the City Council.

In addition, Sergeant Kristopher Brown, MPD5h Precinct, implemented and was manager of the Co-Responder Program until it was suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The Co-Responder Program is a three-year joint effort of Hennepin County mental health professionals and MPD patrol officers, who as a team respond to calls involving residents experiencing mental health crises.
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