HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026.04.27 CCM STUDY04/27/26 -1- DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY
OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
STUDY SESSION
APRIL 27, 2026
CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CALL TO ORDER
The Brooklyn Center City Council met in Study Session called to order by Mayor April Graves at
6:01 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Mayor April Graves, and Councilmembers Dan Jerzak, Teneshia Kragness, and Laurie Ann Moore.
Also present were Interim City Manager Darren Nyquist, Deputy City Clerk Kat Ellgren, Planning
Manager Ginny McIntosh, Police Chief Garett Flesland, City Clerk Shannon Pettit, and City
Attorney Siobhan Tolar.
Councilmember Kris Lawrence-Anderson was absent.
CITY COUNCIL MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS
Councilmember Kragness noted there was an error in the minutes; the name Fit Butters was
misspelled. She added that there might be some typos on the fees, and she communicated those to
the Interim City Manager. One typo was on Utility Services, comparing the 2025 fees to the 2026
fees on page 14 of the Utility Services, for schools, government buildings, and churches, the rate
actually went down in 2026, which is probably a typo. In 2025, the fees were $33.08, and in 2026,
they were listed at $30.08.
Mayor Graves asked if Councilmember Kragness had already identified this with Mr. Nyquist.
Councilmember Kragness noted that she identified two missing fees for the miscellaneous services
to Mr. Nyquist. There are violation types under administrative penalty on page nine, or page 57 of
131. There were two missing from 2025 to 2026: the parking surface violation 12-316, level two,
and tenant protection violation number 12-912(d), level four offense. She added that maybe those
fees were changed, or something was overlooked.
Councilmember Kragness noted that on page six of the commercial electrical permit, or page 54
of 131, the fees went up to $60 per trip, when they used to be $50 per trip. There are also
reinspection fees listed at the bottom, which went up from $50 to $60. The investigation fee was
also doubled, which was listed at $1 in 2025.
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Interim City Manager Daren Nyquist responded that, luckily, Ginny McIntosh is present to answer
some of those questions.
Councilmember Kragness added that the amount listed for refunds issued for permits only over a
certain dollar amount is $120, versus before, when there was no amount listed. She added on page
57 of 131 under miscellaneous services, the administrative system fees, which lists the maximum
final total cannot exceed $1,000 in 2025, and in 2026, it states that the amount is $2,000 per
assessment period. She noted this had already been discussed, but the same language should be
confirmed.
Ms. McIntosh explained that the $2,000 under administrative fees was a Council decision. There
are a number of other changes that were made that she would look into and get back to the Council
on. She noted she was trying to get an answer on the level four tenant protection fee, but was
unsure if a fee was ever put in or if it was removed, and she will have to look into it and get back
to the Council. Regarding the commercial electrical inspections, the City has a new electrical
inspector who requested to increase those fees, so some of the changes are due to outsourcing and
fees going up. Some of the other fees discussed were through City Council requests and can be
clarified in either a weekly update or at the next Council meeting.
Councilmember Kragness noted that the weekly update would be fine.
Councilmember Jerzak stated on page 49 of 131 that the Cannabis Registration information should
be checked. On page 50 of 131, there is a $5,000 fee listed for the Heritage Center. He asked if
that fee is an internal fee or an alcohol fee that the City is paying itself. The other question he had
was on page 61 of 131; he thought the Council discussed continuing the $3,000 vacant building
fee for buildings that continually remain vacant. He added that he remembered the Council having
a discussion about this fee to discourage long-term vacancies. He noted that at the last meeting,
he had requested pulling the Planning Commission meeting minutes, and all of that has since been
resolved after meeting with Mr. Nyquist.
Mayor Graves asked if Staff had any response to Councilmember Jerzak’s questions. Mr. Nyquist
responded that he and Staff would get back to those questions in the weekly update.
CITY MANAGER MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS
CANNABIS REGISTRATION LOTTERY
Mr. Nyquist explained that tonight was supposed to be more entertaining with the lottery process,
but there have been some developments over the last week with the OCM and the process. He
introduced City Clerk Shannon Pettit to give an update on the lottery.
Ms. Pettit noted there is a bingo cage in the Chamber, and the intent was for the lottery to happen
for the first Cannabis Registration license tonight. When last presented, the City Clerk’s office
had two completed license applications ready for the lottery and 12 pending applications. After
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doing some information verification on pending applicants, Staff learned that there was only one
applicant who qualified for the lottery and would not need to use the bingo cage. She added that
despite there only being one applicant tonight, they are excited to move forward with the process.
Mayor Graves noted that the maximum is only three or four applicants, so one is a step in the right
direction. She added that it is disappointing that some of the applications didn’t make it through
the vetting process and is curious what the issues were, but does not want to publicly state anything
about anyone’s business. The Council will try to support the applicants within reason with
knowledge and education. Ms. Pettit noted that she expects to see the applicants come back, and
that is the hope.
POLICE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT
Mr. Nyquist introduced Police Chief Garett Flesland to provide the Police Department's annual
report.
Chief Flesland explained that he would give a brief update on the Police Department and what
they are seeing in terms of workload and crime trends. The Department is extremely busy, and the
numbers will show that, especially the slides at the end of the presentation. He noted that there
are quite a few slides in this presentation, and the Council can review the slides in more detail
later, but he will answer any questions the Council may have either in an upcoming weekly meeting
or a future dialogue.
Chief Flesland described Staffing levels for the Department over the last five years. In 2024, the
Department lost funding for an auto theft investigator, but gained one detective position and one
sergeant position. In October 2021, the Department was at the lowest number of sworn Staff they
have ever had at 34 officers. Since 2021, 46 officers have been hired, and 49 have retired, resigned,
or been separated. The Department has since been operating on average at 80 percent of authorized
sworn staff, and right now has 42 sworn officers. This year, the Department has hired four police
officers and had another hire planned in September, once that officer finishes her training. The
Department will be inviting additional applicants for interviews in the next few weeks. He added
that in addition to the current officer hiring process, the Department is in the middle of the CSO
hiring process and has interviewed several applicants in the past few weeks. The Department
would also like to eventually get two cadets back in place.
Chief Flesland explained that last year, Department Staff responded to and worked through over
41,000 incidents. It is an extremely busy and dynamic environment the Department is operating
in, and the call load averages almost 114 calls a day, or 4.76 calls per hour, or equal to a call every
12.7 minutes of the year.
Mayor Graves asked if Chief Flesland knew what the Staffing level was in 2010 and 2011. Chief
Flesland answered that the Department was authorized 49 positions, but was routinely at 46 to 49.
The Department was typically one to two positions short because of either retirements or
significant injuries.
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Chief Flesland added that the Council could dig in and digest specific numbers related to the
Uniform Crime Report (UCR) using the handouts provided. What stands out is that violent crime
has fluctuated over time, with some higher periods and lower periods. During COVID and the
civil unrest era, there was a noticeable increase, which was consistent with what many other
communities also experienced. The encouraging part is that in 2025, there were 169 violent
crimes, which is a 21 percent reduction from 2024. This means there were 46 fewer violent crimes
in Brooklyn Center than the previous year. This number places Brooklyn Center back into the
range that it had historically been over the past 35 years, and is evidence of moving back towards
some long-term stability.
Chief Flesland noted that recent gun-related statistics show that the only increase is the number of
weapons recovered. So far in 2026, the Department is up 90 percent in weapons recoveries. This
time in 2025, the Department had recovered 20 weapons, versus 38 so far this year.
Mayor Graves asked what Chief Flesland attributed that difference to.
Chief Flesland noted that part of it is that there are a lot more weapons out on the street. There are
people manufacturing their own guns, and he noted that, although he cannot prove it with statistics,
people are more brazen and bringing guns to a lot of incidents. He added that when he was in high
school, he was worried about fist fights and occasionally someone had a knife, but now there are
a lot of young people with handguns that seem to bring them everywhere.
Mayor Graves stated that means people have more access. Chief Flesland agreed with Mayor
Graves.
Chief Flesland continued that robberies went down 34 percent, but assaults on loss prevention
during thefts went up 33 percent from 2024 to 2025. This accounted for most types of robberies,
and he noted he was not aware of this before.
Mayor Graves asked Chief Flesland to explain what that means. Chief Flesland noted that when
a theft is taking place, a retail establishment tries to confront the thief, and the thief uses force to
get away to take the property, which means it is no longer a theft; it is a robbery. This is the most
frequent robbery with assault on loss prevention, which is a concerning trend in thefts in general,
in shoplifting.
Chief Flesland noted that aggravated assaults went down by 20 percent, and non-domestic related
aggravated assaults went down by 30 percent. There is still a concern about domestic-related
aggravated assaults, which are up now compared to five or ten years ago. Mayor Graves pointed
out that it is not just in Brooklyn Center. Chief Flesland agreed that those are up everywhere and
that trend is concerning because the police cannot do anything to prevent them from happening in
someone's home. He added that it is why it is so important for the police to get involved in low-
level domestic violence cases where physical violence has not happened, to get resources to people
to prevent the cycle of violence.
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Chief Flesland added that all burglaries went down 29 percent, and residential burglaries went
down 52 percent. Unfortunately, theft went up as a whole to 28 percent in 2025, and shoplifting
became a challenge. Shoplifting went up 57 percent from 2024 and 143 percent from 2023. This
will come up again when discussing proactive patrols, as the Department saw this trend happening
and targeted retail and commercial areas to provide more resources in those areas. He added that
despite this, auto theft went down 51 percent, and in 2024, Hyundai and Kia accounted for over
half of the auto thefts in Brooklyn Center, and last year thefts of those vehicle makes went down
72 percent from 2024.
Mayor Graves noted that there has been an uptick in auto thefts recently, and asked if the
Department has seen that in Brooklyn Center. Chief Flesland noted that he has seen some, but not
like neighboring communities have. Mayor Graves encouraged Staff to utilize the county program
that is meant to get in front of the problem with young people, identify them, and stop them from
repeating those actions. She added that if the Police Department has not been in contact with those
new partners on that, they should utilize that resource to try to keep those numbers low.
Chief Flesland stated that the department does share that information in their crime analysis, and
it does get forwarded on to the county entities.
Chief Flesland noted that shots heard 911 calls have also decreased since 2016, which is in
alignment with the gun-related slide from earlier showing that all numbers are down, with the
exception of weapon recoveries.
Chief Flesland explained that the trend of 911 calls received for group homes or congregate care
facilities since 2009 averaged just over 10 calls per day to those facilities. Other calls received for
mental problems, which is the term used to align with current computer-aided dispatch codes and
terminology, the combined number of those types of calls for service for mental problems and
welfare checks went down for the first time since 2017. Mayor Graves added that the hope is that
there are fewer repeat calls because people are getting connected to the necessary resources, but
more data would be good.
Chief Flesland continued that in 2025, the City’s expanded response teams were the primary
responders to 416 welfare check or mental problem calls for service. It is reasonable to conclude
that ERT is having an impact on some of the 911 calls that Police Officers have traditionally
responded to. When combining the Police and ERT calls, overall, the responders from the City
did in fact continue to respond to more of those types of calls in 2025 than in previous years. The
numbers are still going up, but some of them are being taken by ERT instead of Police Officers.
Mayor Graves noted that the need is continuing to increase, and from her interactions with the
community, mental health is definitely a concern, and that trend will probably continue because of
the traumatic events that have happened in 2026. It will be good to continue to have those
additional resources.
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Chief Flesland noted that in 2025, there were just under 1,100 views of the crime statistic
dashboard on the City's websites. This averages to just over three views per day in 2025. The
Department posted information about the dashboard on their social media sites on October 2, 7,
30th, and November 30th and it seems to correlate with the spikes and overall increase in views.
In October and November, the specific crime statistics dashboard, along with the other information
regularly posted on the Police data dashboard page of the City's websites, is significantly
underutilized as a resource by the community. There is more information that is being published
and posted on a regular basis that people just are not digesting.
Mayor Graves stated that Staff should figure out a way to communicate with a push or a campaign,
so that people know about that resource and that the City is making concerted efforts around
transparency related to crime statistics.
Chief Flesland noted that one of the tools of technology they have been using in their current fight
and Public Safety efforts is the mobile camera trailers. In 2025, there were a combined total of 58
deployments between two trailers. These are not short one-day deployments, and in most cases,
these deployment/multiple days or even weeks. On average, deployments range from 11 to 17 days
per location, which allows the department to stabilize areas that are experiencing ongoing issues,
whether it's vehicle break-ins, nuisance activity, illegal dumping, or problems that specific
apartment complexes are having. The key advantage of these mobile camera trailers is flexibility.
The department can deploy these clips quickly where the need is, without having to install any
kind of permanent infrastructure, and because the trailers are highly visible, they serve both as a
deterrent and as a tool for gathering evidence. Overall, these trailers have become a force multiplier
for the department, extending our presence without requiring additional staffing. This is part of
how the department is working to address issues in a more targeted and efficient way, focusing on
specific locations and problems rather than relying solely on broad patrol coverage.
Chief Flesland continued that the Department has continued to work on building out its drone
program. It is still in its early stages, but has already been used in a few real-world situations
searching for individuals and evidence, as well as assisting other City departments. This is not
something that the Department is using every day yet, but it is a tool that has clear potential to
improve safety and efficiency. In 2025, there were two operational flights, and in 2026, there were
six. There was a flight today to positively identify whose jurisdiction an encampment was in, and
the drone allowed the Department to do so fairly easily.
Chief Flesland added that the Department continued to use Automated License Plate Readers
(ALPR), and this is not a new technology for the city. He noted that the Department had used them
while they were mounted on some of their squad cars several years ago, from at least early 2013
through 2017. Currently, the Department has been using them at some fixed locations throughout
the city since July 2023. This has led to 23 stolen vehicles being recovered and 19 arrests
associated with those cases just from 2025. Since 2023, the Department has positively attributed
72 stolen vehicle recoveries to ALPR technology.
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Mayor Graves asked how many ALPR’s are in the City. Chief Flesland noted they lease 10 of
them through a grant program, but only nine are operational. He noted that in 2025, ALPRs
supported over 145 criminal investigations, helping identify vehicles, locate suspects, and in some
cases connect cases across jurisdictions. Specific examples of using ALPR include a carjacking,
where the Department used ALPR data to identify the suspect vehicle, track the suspect's
movements, and corroborate information with cell phone data, which led to the suspect's arrest by
U.S. Marshals in North Dakota. In that case specifically, detectives were clear that without ALPR
data, that case never would have been solved. In another case, a Brooklyn Center resident had a
$10,000 necklace stolen. The Department was able to identify the suspect vehicle using ALPR
data, which led them to an organized group committing robberies across multiple states. The
vehicle that was used in Brooklyn Center was ultimately tracked out of state, and the suspect was
arrested with the victim's property recovered. In another case, the ALPR data led directly to arrests
involving illegally possessed firearms. During that stop of a stolen vehicle, officers recovered a
loaded firearm, fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs from a convicted felon who was not allowed to
possess firearms.
Chief Flesland continued that one of the biggest benefits of using ALPR data is to identify stolen
vehicles within the City, and instead of pursuing them, they safely box them in with Police vehicles
in order to recover them, reducing the risk to the public. This tool is producing real results and
helping the Department work smarter, across multiple jurisdictions. It is not a standalone situation,
but has been a valuable tool in helping the Department be more efficient and effective in
investigations. He added that Flock ALPR is the vendor that the City is currently using and is
shared with 49 Minnesota Police agencies, and one regional information sharing system, which is
MOCIC. MOCIC is a clearing house of sorts that the Department uses to deconflict criminal
investigations that are being conducted and allows the Department to see if another agency or
jurisdiction is conducting an investigation that might overlap with Brooklyn Center's.
Mayor Graves asked if the sharing agreement with those 50 organizations prohibits them from
sharing that data with anyone outside of the 50 that were identified by the City. Chief Flesland
confirmed that the data is for those organizations only.
Chief Flesland added that the Flock ALPR data is available on the City's website under the Police
data dashboard, with a link to a transparency portal from Flock. This link will show who the City
has agreements to share data with, as well as a copy of the City's policy and the last 30 days' worth
of data, including unique vehicles or license plates that the system has captured. Mayor Graves
asked if the contract the City has with Flock right now is over. Chief Flesland responded that the
contract ends in June 2027. Mayor Graves asked if there was any interest in looking into any of
the contracted companies that other cities are using. Chief Flesland noted that he and other Staff
have had multiple conversations with multiple vendors, and technology and pricing are changing
fast. So it behooves the City to know as much as possible about multiple vendors to make the right
decision at the right time. This could mean choosing a vendor that hits the sweet spot between
capabilities and pricing structures. Mayor Graves noted that means Chief Flesland is going to keep
his finger on the pulse. Chief Flesland stated he has more meetings scheduled regarding this on
his calendar now.
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Chief Flesland explained that the Department focused on identifying unique and meaningful
engagement events in 2025. These events included meetings, outreach, problem-solving, and
events tied to specific people or specific locations. After removing various administrative
activities, he could identify at least 150 community engagement events in 2025. These events are
led by the JCPP community liaison and the Crime Prevention Specialist, along with the
Community Services division as a whole, who are focused on those ongoing relationships and
problem-solving efforts. Much of the work is centered on individuals and locations that are driving
repeat calls for service, so it is not just a one-time contact, but rather a sustained engagement over
time. This does not capture everything related to community engagement and partnerships; every
day, Staff are interacting with residents, victims, businesses, and community members multiple
times a day. Those interactions may not show up in a report like this, but they matter in building
trust in serving the community. Additionally, Staff put in 4,280 hours for training across a wide
variety of subjects and topics, including weekly ethics training that is taking place in roll calls and
small group discussions.
Chief Flesland continued that when he provided his 2024 annual report last March, one of the
initiatives mentioned was a series of proactive enforcement details based on identified crime trends
and hotspot areas. That idea evolved into seven weeks of focused details last year. This was
intentional to try to impact the theft and shoplifting trends that the City is seeing in retail areas.
The Department has always been busy, but in 2025, the Department had 4,275 incoming pieces of
evidence and over 7,000 phone calls to the main telephone number. This works out on average to
28 phone calls each workday. There were 2,210 requests for data reports or videos, averaging out
to just under nine data requests each day last year. Chief Flesland noted that the Department
continues to make steady progress and sees positive trends in key areas. The Department is being
thoughtful in how they are using resources and technology, and continuing to focus on the people
and locations that drive the most calls for service. He added that he was proud of the work that the
officers and professional Staff are doing every day as they serve this community. He noted that
the Department is not where they want to be yet, but they are moving in the right direction.
Councilmember Moore thanked Chief Flesland for the presentation and commended him on his
interview on CCX media, as it was very uplifting and informative. Chief Flesland stated he was
excited to do that interview, and CCX media reached out to both him and Fire Chief Berg, and
thinks they will be included in future opportunities like that.
Councilmember Jerzak stated that everyone is aware of the challenges the Department continues
to encounter in recruiting new police officers, especially with the expected wave of retirements
around the corner. He asked what role technology will play in the future, especially as other cities
like Minnetonka send up drones, which become more of a force multiplier at a cheaper cost without
the burnout factor. The math on the increase of calls to group homes alone comes out to 9.26 calls
per 24 hours, and overall, the City is asking officers to do more and more. He asked Chief Flesland
what technology would potentially have the most impact.
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Chief Flesland noted that the new technology is incredibly exciting and will be a part of future
crime fighting, and will allow the Department to do things smarter, safer, and more efficiently, but
policing is still a person-to-person endeavor. Technology like AI can process all kinds of
information, but ultimately, a man or a woman has to go out and interact face-to-face with a
suspect, or a victim, or some kids in a park that want to play football. When the Department had
its workload study done in 2023, that study said the Department needed 12 more officers than they
have right now to be running on all cylinders, and the Department needs more officers than they
are authorized right now, but that may have to meld with technology. He noted that he cannot
predict where the Department is going to be, but a lot of the future is going to be regional aspects,
as people are so mobile that they leave one jurisdiction and go to another. Part of that technology
is going to be sharing information, and there are legal guardrails that are up, but ultimately,
agencies need to be able to share information in a timely manner. He added that different agencies
use different databases and software systems, and it will be about looking at all the information
and getting the right analyst to give refined information to the right cop who is going to do
something with that information.
Councilmember Jerzak asked if the ALPR readers are worth the investment and cost-effective.
Chief Flesland stated that they are a beneficial technology. The ALPR readers give a lot of data
that helps the Department leverage to find information, such as in a kidnapping case that he did
not mention earlier. He noted that he does not want to scare people, but there is a lot of data out
there that the ALPR readers give to the Department that they can use justifiably based on probable
cause and legal doctrine in a timely manner, and many of the cases that have been solved would
not have been solved without the ALPR readers. It is important that there are safeguards in place,
and the information from these ALPR readers is used for criminal investigations and nothing
beyond that. As people recognize how valuable and critical this data is, there will probably be
more ALPR vendors that come out in the next year and a half.
Councilmember Jerzak stated that Chief Flesland had 10 licenses, but only nine of them were being
used, and asked if there was a particular reason. Chief Flesland answered that the Department is
working extremely diligently, but when looking at City roads versus county roads, and trying to
get everything lined up just right, sometimes it is a struggle when working with other entities and
organizations. The benefit is that the Department is not paying for a service that they are not using.
Mayor Graves noted that there are a lot of benefits to this technology, but the main reason she
brought it up is balancing the investment and people's privacy, and how the general public feels
about surveillance and how that data is shared or not shared. It is important to ensure that the
company aligns with the ethics that the City espouses.
Councilmember Kragness agreed that the crime statistic dashboard is an underutilized tool. She
added that the goal of technology is never to replace good policing; it should be used to support
smarter, safer, and more accountable policing.
Mayor Graves noted that Chief Flesland mentioned the weekly ethics training that the Department
is doing, which will be discussed later with the Council, as well as other training that is probably
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on some kind of rotation. She stated she would be interested in hearing what those trainings are
and if they are different than the training that was being received in 2020 and 2021. She asked if
there had been any internal discussions since the assassination of Representative Hortman and the
attempted assassination of Senator Hoffman around crisis response, chain of command, and what
that means for keeping Staff and Councilmembers safe, as well as community members. She
added that the suspect in that case walked right through Brooklyn Center to get to where he was
ultimately apprehended, and there was a breakdown in communication as well as any kind of
protocol in a crisis response situation regarding who is informed first within the City, and how
Councilmembers are informed. If those conversations are not happening, she would like an update
on what has been discussed since that assassination. She noted that there was an officer-involved
shooting at IHOP, with multiple different agencies involved with that, but when there was an
assassin in the area, there were no squads to stop by the Councilmember's homes. There needs to
be a threshold for crisis response, a chain of command, as well as mutual aid, discussed. She asked
what the threshold is for an emergency operations center that is not just for the police, but for the
rest of the community, City Staff, and Councilmembers, and would like a follow-up on that. She
added that recently, at the state level, impersonating a law enforcement officer changed to a felony
charge, and that is an important first step.
Chief Flesland noted that he would get a snapshot of the training that the Staff is going through for
the Council. He explained that there is a set of training courses that Police Department Staff have
to complete, with post licenses that have to be renewed every three years. He added that the
assassination of Representative Hortman and the attempted assassination of Senator Hoffman were
discussed by some agencies involved in a briefing held at the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Executive
Training Institute two weeks ago that he attended. He noted that the case is still an active criminal
investigation because of some long-reaching roots, and he could not discuss much about it, but
there are some lessons learned and some things that were done well. The International Association
of Chiefs of Police (IACP) was contracted to do an after-action report and was in the area actively
a few weeks ago, and interviewed at least one Brooklyn Center officer who was involved, to try to
wrap their heads around everything. He added that from what he learned a few weeks ago, there
was a lot more going on with that incident than what was portrayed in the media and when the
after-action report comes out, it will be a good read for everyone including elected officials with
some best practices that are going to be reinforced as well as lessons learned, and communication
is going to be one of those things.
Mayor Graves asked when that report is going to come out. Chief Flesland stated he did not know,
but the IACP was in town interviewing some of the key players in the incident, which could be
close to 100 people, if not more. This fall would probably be the earliest that the report would
come out. Mayor Graves requested that Chief Flesland keep her updated.
Councilmember Jerzak added that the Representative Hortman shooting will be one year ago in
June, and at the very minimum, there needs to be work done with the Staff to update emergency
procedures for at least notifying critical individuals, which is a simple thing to do. He added that
the alleged assassin was only a few blocks from his house, and it was very unsettling, and while
all the Councilmembers called each other when it happened, they did not have anything else.
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Chief Flesland pointed out that the Department did have officers go to specific locations that
morning in the City, based on information that they had, and were prioritizing and triaging
information as they were working through it. He acknowledged that there is always more
communication that could have been done.
Mayor Graves noted that it is important not only because the Council cares about people's safety,
but because they want people to be willing to run for office and serve on Councils for $10,000 a
year, when there is also a risk of lunatics that might come after you because they do not agree with
something that you said. It is not just about maintaining safety, but also about maintaining
democracy, and the rhetoric and the danger do not seem like they have subsided.
Mayor Graves thanked Chief Flesland and the rest of the Police Department for continuing to
protect and serve.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Graves moved, Councilmember Jerzak seconded to adjourn the Study Session at 6:52 p.m.
Motion passed unanimously.