Police, neighborhood leaders building trust bit by bit in Mpls.

"Could Ferguson happen here?"

That was the theme of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Minneapolis Police Fourth Precinct Advisory Council. Demonstrators and others have asked that same question. The precinct's new inspector Mike Friestleben tried to answer it Tuesday night.

"It can happen anywhere," Friestleben told a gathering of neighborhood block leaders and residents.

The lack of charges in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, last year brought protests here and around the country. But it's also kindled smaller, quieter discussions about police-community relations, including the one Tuesday at the Fourth Precinct, that offer hope of easing tensions between officer and people of color.

Friestleben, who is white and grew up on Minneapolis' North Side, has spent most of his nearly 27-year career patrolling its streets. He says he knows how to tamp down the tension. Officers need to get out of their cars and residents need to get out of their homes so they can meet and get to know each other.

"So you can shake their hands. So when you see them in a patrol car you know them, they know you. They learn to meet your kids. So kids are not afraid of police. That's what we need."

Some at the Tuesday meeting said building those relationships will be hard, especially for African-Americans who feel like they've been unfairly targeted by police officers.

Barbara Freeman said her 51-year-old son has faced repeated harassment from cops. She saw one incident right outside his house.

"When a squad car pulled up — came to the alley — got out and asked him 'Why are you sitting out here?' I mean, this is his house. He's not a teenager. And he tried to explain. They went on up in the house with him. Next thing we know he was arrested."

Friestleben says the vast majority of Minneapolis cops do a good job every day, but there are a few who don't.

The department is working on an intervention system to flag problem officers so their behavior can be corrected early on, he added.

Longtime North Side resident Bobbi McGee asked Friestleben to identify and get rid of those officers as soon as possible.

"No matter how you do it, they have to be weeded out, because this is a great city and we don't want a Ferguson," McGee said.

At least one Ferguson-like outburst has happened in Minneapolis. In 2002, police officers shot and wounded an African American boy during a raid on a north side which touched off a riot. During the melee, rioters torched a car and beat up two newspaper reporters.

Nearly everyone at the meeting agreed that police officers and community members need to work harder to bridge gaps.

Olympic cross country skier Caitlin Gregg and her husband work with kids at a local Boys and Girls Club to get them involved in sports. The club offers a good opportunity for police to connect with the kids, Gregg said Tuesday, telling officers that the kids "would be psyched if you guys came in."

Friestleben agreed and added that officers already do a lot of outreach to kids.