MPD partners with NAACP to address neighbor disputes

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: Our top story today on Minnesota Now, the City of Minneapolis is looking at steps to take following a neighbor dispute that turned violent. You may remember Davis Moturi was shot and injured by his neighbor, John Sawchak, in South Minneapolis late last month. Moturi, who is Black, filed a restraining order back in April against Sawchak, who is white, saying his neighbor made racist comments and death threats. Moturi believes it took too long for MPD to make an arrest. Several city council members agreed.

Minneapolis Police have promised a full review of the incident. And this afternoon, there will be public comment about this case at a City Council meeting at City Hall. Just in the last hour, Minneapolis Police announced a new partnership with the Minneapolis NAACP to address neighborhood disputes. MPD says, so far this year, they've seen 45 calls per week about neighbor-to-neighbor disputes. Chief Brian O'Hara shared this at a press conference, that these disputes aren't always easy to solve.

BRIAN O'HARA: And now, every situation is different. Each has its own individual dynamics. But many of them have the potential to escalate. And all of them are difficult for police to deal with, particularly those that are civil and do not rise to the level of criminal issues or violence.

We don't have clear-- we don't always have clear-cut probable cause that we oftentimes need in order to make an arrest. Or if we do take somebody into custody, there oftentimes isn't sufficient evidence to prove an offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The suspects are then returned into the community, to the same situation, and now the dispute is often even more heated. As the police, we want to do everything we possibly can to prevent those relationships from reaching a breaking point.

NINA MOINI: MPD Chief Brian O'Hara there. Joining us now to talk about this initiative is the Minneapolis NAACP President, Cynthia Wilson. Miss Wilson, thank you for being here.

CYNTHIA WILSON: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. I know you just wrapped up announcing this new initiative. I watched your news conference there alongside the chief. I understand this is in the early stages. But for our listeners, can you tell us about this neighbor dispute partnership with MPD and just maybe summarize what it entails?

CYNTHIA WILSON: Well, yes. It's work that we've-- we're currently doing anyway. But after this-- the incident happened, we thought it would be a nice initiative to start where the community is really engaged in the community. So it's more or less the neighbors working with the community organizations, faith-based organizations, to bring about some resolve for any type of disagreement that neighbors are having.

So it won't be all and end all. But it will be another option and opportunity for the neighbors to connect with someone who looks like them, who-- themselves and are willing to sit down and listen in to the dispute and come up with some resolve.

NINA MOINI: I'm curious of-- people listening have probably had a problem with a neighbor at some point, big or small. I was pretty shocked to hear the 45 calls a week. Although, obviously, Minneapolis has a greater population than most other cities in our state. But you mentioned different types of disputes. What do you hope will be covered by this partnership? And perhaps what steps will you take to kick it over to law enforcement if that's, in fact, needed?

CYNTHIA WILSON: Right. So what will happen is, if there's a dispute, people will probably call the police like they normally do. And instead of the police getting there and saying that they're not able to do this, that, or the other, because it doesn't-- it hasn't risen to that level, they can say, OK, but we do have our mediator team that can come out and give support.

And they can call us, and then we come out with a team of folks. And the team looks like a combination of social workers, community engagers, crime prevention, and inspectors, and then just community organizers who are looking to help take a little weight off of the police, where they can actually focus on more of the serious crimes. And this is just a way for us to reengage our community of taking back the community.

NINA MOINI: Why did you feel it was important to be part of this partnership? For folks who may not know Mr. Moturi, in his words, took every step possible to alert that--

CYNTHIA WILSON: Yes, he did.

NINA MOINI: --he felt like his life was really threatened. Chief O'Hara has brought up many times before that MPD is, in fact, understaffed. So how will this be funded? It sounds like NAACP is taking on this work.

CYNTHIA WILSON: Well, we're currently already doing the work. So now we're going to get additional help with the support of the Minneapolis Police Department with the workers that they have-- community crime prevention, community engagers, as I said, social workers. So there will be a team of folks going to this mediation to help get some resolve.

So I think that's the difference. We get a lot of calls and complaints that come across our desk daily, as well. And so having some additional support gives us extra bodies to go out and mediate efficiently and effectively.

NINA MOINI: How big is your group of volunteers? And are you looking for more? What would it take to become one?

CYNTHIA WILSON: Yes, we are. So currently, our executive team consists of 16 individuals. And these individuals are full-time employees. None of them get paid for any of the work that we're doing.

We're all volunteers, and we're doing the work on the strength of the community, the love of the community, and the fact that we want to see change within our police department, within our community, and trying to reengage the community to buy back into the trust of the police. And we know it's going to take some time. It's not going to happen overnight. But I think this is a good step forward in moving forward.

NINA MOINI: In this case, MPD says that the neighbor who ended up pulling the trigger had mental health issues. How do you foresee mental health issues being addressed through your efforts?

CYNTHIA WILSON: Absolutely. That's where the social workers and mental health specialists will assist. And so-- and again, this is not to take the police out of the equation. So if there's still a need for the police, we will engage the police.

But this is for areas that hasn't really arisen to the point of the police needing to come and do X, Y, and Z. This will be like a time where the neighbors can come together, sit down and talk, find out what's bothering or ailing each neighbor, and then move toward some resolutions.

NINA MOINI: You mentioned in your news conference that you had heard from community members following the situation with Mr. Moturi. What are they telling you now?

CYNTHIA WILSON: I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Say it one more time.

NINA MOINI: Oh, sure. What have people in the community been telling you about how this situation with Mr. Moturi has impacted them and made them feel?

CYNTHIA WILSON: Well, it's-- of course, it made them feel-- it didn't make them feel good. They were wondering why-- what took so long, and why was-- why did the police department fail them. And they-- those questions are valid. And the police-- the chief came and said what he said. He apologized and indicated that there were some things, some circumstances that were out of their hand, and they dropped the ball.

But can we move forward? And how do we do that? How does that look? And this initiative is one of the ways that we can start. And again, this is not going to be all and end all. But it will be a start, moving forward. And I think letting the community understand that and know what we're doing, that we're not just saying, oh, this happened, and we're not doing anything about it.

We're looking for ways to better serve the community. And like I said, that does take time. And so that's why we're having the press conference, to let the community know that, yep, we heard you, and these are some of the actions that we're taking to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Cynthia Wilson, thank you. I hope you'll come back and tell us how the effort's going.

CYNTHIA WILSON: I sure will. Thank you so much.

NINA MOINI: That's Minneapolis NAACP President Cynthia Wilson. We'll have a reporter again at the City Council meeting later today I told you about at the top of the show. And we'll have updates for you on air and online.