From its outset the Phillips Partnership has tackled crime head on, organizing and aiding community organizations, forging special law-enforcement partnerships and guiding new preventative strategies. These efforts have driven down crime rates in Phillips, vastly improving opportunities for investment. And the Partnership has followed through, immediately leveraging these opportunities to results – quality housing, institutional expansions and public realm improvements.
The number of arrests in the Midtown Safety Center Zone dropped dramatically in 2005 when the Midtown Safety Center and Midtown Exchange opened.
Midtown Safety Center (2005-present)
The Midtown Community Safety Center serves five core communities – acting as a hub for connecting police and community in important ways. The Safety Center is centrally located at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Lake Street to provide easy access. The Midtown Community Safety Center strengthens the redevelopment of the Lake Street corridor, and provides a critical component in the economic development strategy of surrounding neighborhoods.
The Midtown Community Safety Center was constructed with an emphasis on people. The Safety Center has a full-time staff that can follow up on problems or issues and act as ongoing outreach, offering a valuable resource for anyone living, working, or otherwise participating in nearby communities. To further its connection to neighbors, a large community room is available for neighbors to come together and work on common issues or public policy.
John Baumann, a Minneapolis Police Department Crime Prevention Specialist, staffs the Midtown Safety Center. To contact John Baumann, call 612-825-6138 or email John.Baumann@ci.minneapolis.mn.us.
Midtown Security Collaborative (2005-present)
The Midtown Security Collaborative is a network of many Phillips neighborhood businesses, both big and small, that are working together to improve safety for their employees, customers, and area residents. The Security Collaborative brings together Third Precinct police officers, the community attorney, and local businesses to talk about crime in the neighborhood. The Security Collaborative meetings provide information about ways businesses can protect their property and their customers. This includes dealing with chronic offenders, talking with police about neighborhood hot spots and sharing information with other business owners with similar concerns.
Community Crime Prevention Initiative (1998–2009)
Organized by the Phillips Partnership, the Community Crime Prevention Initiative (CCPI) was an educational forum that brought community residents together to provide information about crime and safety efforts in the neighborhood. These monthly meetings provided in-depth presentations about issues such as Community Impact Statements, Court Watch, addressing problem properties, the use of force by police and livability crimes. CCPI meetings armed residents with information about the best ways to help police and security forces, use government agencies that address safety issues and got to know who is working to improve safety in the Midtown and West Phillips neighborhoods.
Chicago-Lake Intervention (2002–2004)
The Phillips Partnership set in motion a chain of highly successful community partnerships to improve conditions at the neighborhood’s busiest and most volatile intersection. These included the creation of the Chicago Lake Improvement Project and the Chicago-Lake Crime Workgroup, both alliances of residents, businesses and public officials. Working together, these groups cleaned up the intersection and developed enforcement strategies that cut crime in half within six months. Lessons learned from these efforts have been translated into the Citizens and Law Enforcement Action Network (CLEAN), which is now targeting quality-of-life crime along Lake Street, Bloomington Ave. and Franklin Ave. in Phillips. These strategies have been incorporated into the Midtown Security Collaborateive and the Midtown Safety Center.
Joseph Selvaggio Initiative (1998-2001)
The Phillips Partnership organized a comprehensive plan to stabilize the neighborhood between the Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Wells Fargo campuses. The initiative tore down crack houses, converted slum apartments, helped every one of the 67 homeowners in the target area make improvements to their properties, and beautified the sidewalks. Crime has dropped substantially from these blocks after the completion of the Joseph Selvaggio Initiative.
