Community Leaders Challenge $40M Police Training Center, Call for Investment in Minneapolis Neighborhoods

As Minneapolis continues to grapple with the legacy of the police murder of George Floyd and ongoing calls for accountability, a group of city leaders is pushing back against a proposed $40 million investment in a new police training facility—arguing the city should prioritize housing stability, youth programs, and long-promised investments in Black communities instead.

The proposal from Mayor Jacob Frey’s administration would create a new Public Safety Training and Wellness Center for the Minneapolis Police Department in the Windom neighborhood. City officials are being asked to approve a $6 million purchase agreement on March 26 to move the project forward.

But critics say the plan raises deeper questions about the city’s priorities—and whether Minneapolis is truly committed to transforming policing or simply expanding it.

A question of priorities

Ward 2 Council Member Robin Wonsley said the proposal comes at a moment when many residents are still struggling with rising housing costs, economic instability, and the long-term impacts of aggressive policing.

“We know that’s a $40 million investment that we should not walk into lightlywhen we know we have other more pressing investments that we need to be making,” Wonsley said, “especially after—and still enduring—the impacts of Operation Metro Surge which the city has already estimated will have a $200 million+ economic impact that will be felt by our city, by our residents for months and years to come.”

Ward 8 Council Member Soren Stevenson framed the debate around what Minneapolis residents actually need to thrive. Representing the ward that includes George Floyd Square, Stevenson said resources should be directed toward stabilizing neighborhoods and supporting residents rather than expanding police infrastructure.

Stevenson also shared that they are a survivor of violence by the Minneapolis Police Department, emphasizing that the issue goes beyond training.

“The training of that officer was never in question,” Stevenson said.

Supporters of the project say the facility would modernize police training and support reform efforts. But Stevenson noted that the consent decree guiding reforms after Floyd’s murder does not require the city to build a new training center. Instead, Stevenson urged residents to consider how far $40 million could go if invested directly into community priorities.

“At a time when MPD is going radically over budget, both last year and this year, we need to be investing in things that grow our community, that support our community and that are going to be life-giving for us in this very difficult time,” he said. “Our demand and our request is that we invest this money in things that will support our community and lift us up as opposed to things which are not a priority at this time—and this simply isn’t it.”

Community needs over policing

Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai pointed to several community projects that could be transformed with similar funding. Among them is redevelopment of the former Kmart site along Nicollet Avenue, a major city-led project aimed at reconnecting a corridor that was closed for decades.

“This project has the ability to transform lives in this community. It has the ability to either ensure that the Whittier neighborhood and this part of the South Side continues to be a place that working class people can call home, that Black, brown, Indigenous and immigrant people can call home—or is the center of what displacement can look like in our community. ”


Chughtai said additional investment could allow the project to incorporate geothermal energy which will cost tens of millions of dollars.

“Recently the city conducted a study about determining whether the site was optimal for building network geothermal—so looking at how we heat and cool in the most sustainable ways possible that build energy democracy within our city—
and it is determined by experts that this is one of the best sites that the city could invest in network geothermal or in geothermal, in general.”

Chughtai also pointed to longstanding infrastructure issues in Uptown that have slowed economic recovery, as well as climate programs that help residents weatherize their homes and reduce energy costs.

“These are investments that everyday people would feel in their daily lives,” Chughtai said.

Trust still broken

For many community leaders, the debate over the training center reflects deeper concerns about accountability within the Minneapolis Police Department. Civil rights attorney and activist Dr. Nekima Levy Armstrong said expanding police infrastructure without addressing the department’s culture risks repeating the same patterns that have caused harm for decades.

She pointed to the 2022 killing of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man who was shot by police during a no-knock warrant while sleeping on a couch—an incident that continues to shape community distrust.

Nekima also cited cases over the last year and half where residents said police failed to protect them after calls for help.

“Davis Moturi, a Black man in our community who called 911 multiple times. 
He was under threat by his neighbor who was a racist white man who was threatening him. MPD did nothing to intervene, and Davis Moturi was shot multiple times while doing yard work and almost killed. And even after that happened, it took MPD five days to go and arrest his neighbor.”

She also mentioned two domestic violence cases. Both Allison Lussier and Mariah Samuels were killed by their abusers after calling MPD for help.

“These women are speaking from the grave, as far as I'm concerned, trying to protect more women in our city when it comes to the way that MPD operates and whether they value the lives of Black, brown and native residents of the city of Minneapolis,” said Nekima. “That's what they need to be focused on, not building a new cop city and and draining 40 more million dollars on top of how much we already spent on substandard policing in the city, which is unconscionable.”

North Minneapolis still waiting

Speakers also highlighted the lack of sustained investment in North Minneapolis, where many of the city’s Black residents live. Nekima pointed to the West Broadway corridor—often described as the city’s historic Black business district—where vacant storefronts and long-abandoned properties remain common.

“When people drive through and see broken gates and empty buildings, it sends a message,” she said. “It sends a message about whose communities matter.”

Advocates argued the city could instead use the funding to support youth jobs, small businesses, housing development, and community spaces for young people.

Calls for real accountability

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Minneapolis has yet to fully deliver on the promises of reform made after Floyd’s murder sparked global protests.

“We are supposed to be the city that shows the country what transformation looks like,” Jaylani said. “But residents still haven’t seen the level of change that was promised.”

Community organizer Malcolm Wells of the New Justice Project said real safety comes from investing in communities rather than expanding policing. He pointed to the closure of Hamilton Elementary School in North Minneapolis—once attended primarily by Black students—which is now used for police training activities.

“A former elementary school that served Black kids is now a place where officers practice shooting,” Wells said. “That tells you a lot about the priorities of this city.”

For many community leaders, the debate represents a larger choice facing the city: whether Minneapolis will continue expanding police infrastructure—or redirect resources toward the neighborhoods still waiting for investment and accountability.