Appendix A

An Open Letter to Mayor Betsy Hodges

Posted by: Nekima Levy-Pounds under Society, Crime, Violence, Government, Politics Updated:
September 30, 2014 - 5:05 PM
http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/277556681.html

The following letter was sent to Mayor Betsy Hodges on the afternoon of Friday, September 26th
and has since been updated to include additional signers.
Dear Mayor Hodges,
We write today to request that your office take seriously the concerns that are being raised by
community members throughout Minneapolis and the greater Twin Cities Metro area about the
abusive police practices of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) that have been occurring
for years. As you know, last week nearly two hundred residents of the Twin Cities gathered at
Sabathani Community center with an expectation to engage in a listening session with Chief
Harteau. As you are aware, Chief Harteau withdrew from the event just hours before it was set to
begin and made comments to the media that we find to be offensive regarding expectations of
physical violence and unruly confrontations that would pose a threat to public safety. These
speculations, on the part of the Chief, reinforced stereotypes of the very communities she was
purportedly gathering to "listen" to, and who are in fact, the community members most likely to
be targeted by police.
The gathering was peaceful and comments from the community served to highlight the depth of
the concerns that community members have about their safety on the streets and the ongoing
negative interactions between law enforcement and the community. Young people from the
community shared stories of arrests for things like spitting on the sidewalk or walking while
black. The conduct of some members of MPD is unacceptable in a community that prides itself
on having strong, progressive values.
Although several requests have been made by multiple community members to have you and
Chief Harteau issue a public apology, this has not yet occurred. We find that disheartening.
Many of us voted you into office because we felt that you would not continue with business as
usual, but would work to unify the community and change the status quo. Your silence on the
concerns that have been raised and your failure to engage the community on these issues speaks
volumes, and will make it difficult to regain public trust.
We remain concerned about the short and long term impacts of failing to address community
concerns regarding police/community relations in a timely manner. Following are some actions
that you can take as a way to begin to heal the rift between the Chief, your office, and many
concerned community members.

First, we would ask that a public apology be issued by you and/or the Chief for missing the
community listening session and her derogatory and alarmist media remarks that perpetuated
negative racial stereotypes.
Second, we would ask that drastic steps be taken to address the culture within MPD that leads
to negative police/community relations.
Third, we would ask for an audit of MPD by a credible, third-party entity to review
departmental structure, the effectiveness of internal affairs and the civilian review process, along
with departmental policies.
Fourth, we would request quarterly progress reports to the community on issues such as
increasing diversity within MPD, the rates of low-level arrests, the number and types of police
misconduct complaints, and the number of police misconduct lawsuits being settled along with
dollar amounts.
Fifth, we would request an opportunity for community input on policies surrounding the use of
body cameras by MPD. Although many of us support the use of body cameras, we are well
aware of the fact that many jurisdictions that use body cameras continue to face allegations of
police misconduct and brutality due to cameras being turned off during optimal times, storage of
data, and interpretation of said data.
In essence, we would like to see MPD be transformed into a department that respects the human
dignity of all persons and works to foster positive relationships with the community. We believe
that public safety is negatively impacted when residents fear the police department or have lost
trust due to a lack of accountability. We urge you to demonstrate bold and courageous leadership
on these issues and to set the tone for the type of conduct that is expected in the city of
Minneapolis. This can only happen after steps are taken to address the concerns that have been
repeatedly raised over the last week and an apology has been issued.
Thank you in advance for your consideration. We look forward to a timely response.
Sincerely,
Dr. Nancy Heitzeg

St. Catherine University

Prof. Nekima Levy-Pounds

University of St. Thomas Law School

Dr. Rose Brewer

University of Minnesota

Scott Gray

President & CEO, Minneapolis Urban League

Jeffry D. Martin, Esq.

NAACP

President, St Paul Branch NAACP, First VP, MN/Dakotas Conf.,

Vina Kay
Project

Interim Exec. Director./Dir. of Research& Policy, Org. Apprenticeship

Nick Muhammad

Concerned citizen, Community organizer

Rev. Dennis Edwards

Senior Pastor, The Sanctuary Covenant Church, Minneapolis

Dane Smith

President, Growth & Justice

Toki Wright

Concerned community member

Jason M. Sole
Justice

Metropolitan State University, School of Law Enforcement & Crim.

Rev. Michael A. Hotz

Church

Associate Pastor of Care and Outreach, The Sanctuary Covenant

Rev. Dan Collison

Senior Pastor, First Covenant Church of Minneapolis

Chris Stewart

Concerned community member

Dua Saleh

President, NAACP St. Paul Youth Branch

James Trice

Founder and CEO of The Public Policy Project

Lissa Jones

Host, Urban Agenda Public Affairs Show

Elizabeth A. Oppenheimer

Concerned community member

Chaka Mkali
Community

Director of Organizing and Community Building at Hope

Mark Robinson

Executive Director, E.M.P.O.W.E.R.

Anthony Newby

Executive Director, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC)

Neely Heubach

Minneapolis resident and concerned community member

Kenya McKnight

Minneapolis resident and Business owner

Chris Brooks

Faculty | Youth & Urban Studies, North Central University

N. Jeanne Burns
William C. Jottings

Concerned community member

Concerned community member

Matthew Barthelemy

Concerned community member

Henry Jimenez

Youth worker, Community organizer

Jamie Utt

Concerned community member

Charles Samuelson Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLUMN)
Cynthia Assam

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas Law School

Ngeri Azuewah

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas Law School

Rachel Sebasky

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas Law School

Justine Hicks

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas Law School

Jacob Ray

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas Law School

Muna Hassan

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas Law School

Marcus Harcus

Concerned community member

Taylor Shevey

Concerned community member

Stephen Maitreya Wolfe

Concerned community member

Nathaniel Khaliq

Concerned community member

Shelley Martin

Concerned Mpls Resident, Community Organizer

Nelima Sitati Munene

Concerned Community member

Ann Mongoven

Concerned Community member

Thomas Hooks

Concerned Community member

Sarah Goodspeed

Concerned Community member

Tami Schimnoski

Concerned Community member

Ruby Simmons

Partake or Flake

Kate Willis

Concerned Community member

Matthew Berg

Concerned Community member

Mike Griffin

Concerned Community member

Kristy Pierce

Concerned Community member

Vaughn Larry

Concerned Community member

Donna Evans

Concerned Community activist/organizer

Rev Meg Riley

Senior Minister, Church of the Larger Fellowship

La Juana Whitmore Owner, Black Twin Cities, Member, MN Cultural & Ethnic Comm.
Leadership Coun.
Shaun Laden

Concerned Community Member

Amber Gay

Concerned Community Member

Dwane Martin
Peter Thomas,

Concerned Community Member

Community Artist, Concerned Community Member

Dr. Bryan K. Cole

Parent, Educator, former Minneapolis Resident

Tim Harlan-Marks

Concerned Community Member

Karen Monahan

Community organizer

David Miller

Concerned Community Member

Cathy Jones

People of Color Union Member, Concerned community Member

Dave Snyder

Concerned community member

Anne Winkler-Morey

Community faculty Metro state university

Claire Bergren

Community Organizer- Harrison Neighborhood Association

Jobi Adams

Concerned community member and Youth

Rebeka Ndosi

Concerned community member

Chamise Anderson

Certified Student Attorney, University of St. Thomas School of Law

Melvin Whitfield Carter, Jr.

Azucena Ortega

Concerned community member

Concerned community member

Eliot Howard

Concerned community member

Zachariah Y. Oluwa Bankole

Anika Ward

JD/MBA student and concerned community member

Concerned community member

Roya Damsaz

Concerned community member

Julie Plaut

Concerned community member

Amy Van Steenwyk

Co-founder of the Mennonite Worker

Ann Galloway

Concerned Citizen

Daniel Dean

Concerned Community Member

Muneer Karcher-Ramos

Concerned Father

Molly Glasgow

Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition

Oliver Schminkey

Concerned citizen

Aaron Rennaker

Concerned Community Member

Katie Huynh

Concerned citizen

Ashley Horan

Exec. Director, The Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance

Angel Smith-EL

Concerned citizen of 4 African American young men

Kyla Sisson

Concerned community member

Miranda Posthumus

Concerned Community Member

William W Smith IV

Youth Advocate

Bridget Siljander

Concerned community member

Kate Sattler

Concerned Community Member

Ann Haines

Concerned Community Member

Evelyn M. Blum

Concrned Community Member and Voter

David Boehnke

Concerned Community Member

Mike Wedl

Concerned Minneapolis Resident and Community Leader

Lauren Huiting

Concerned Community Member

David Miller

Concerned Community Member

Nick Campbell

North Minneapolis Resident

Stephanie DeFrance

Public School Teacher

Marjaan Sirdar

Concerned community member

Niko Georgiades

Youth Worker, Concerned Community Member

Chrissie Mahaffy

Concerned community Member

Brian Mahaffy

Concerned community Member

Dick Donovan

Concerned community Member

Tessa Wetjen

Concerned community member

Vanessa Messersmith

Concerned community member

Leah C Palmer

Former MPD employee

Jennifer Lock

Concerned Community Member

Liane Gale

Co-Chair, Green Party of Minnesota

Michael kraft

Concerned community member

Josh Hardy

Concerned Community Member

Steve Loop

Concerned Community Member

Danyale Green

Concerned Community Member/Organizer

Sonia Nunez-Gibbs

Educator

Tony Nunez

Concerned community member

Jazmin Danielson

Community Leader

Avra Anagnostis

Wake Up 612

Cari Tan Educator

Concerned Community Member

Mrs. Maryann Robinson

Concerned Child Education Advocate

Brian K. Smith

Institute on Culture and Policy

Mary Webb-Hampton

Concerned community member, Wake up 612

Stephanie Gasca

Concerned Community Member

Roya Damsaz

Concerned community member

Michael W. Jonak

Attorney and Concerned Citizen

Jon P. Frasz

TAMN

Roya Damsaz

Concerned Community Member

Kissy Coakley

Victims Advocate & Justice 4 All Leader

Dan Kauppi

Lawyer, Minneapolis resident

Robert Smith III

Doctoral Student, University of Minnesota

Carrie Anne Johnson

Parent & Life-long South Minneapolis Resident

Amber Jones

U of M Student, Concerned Community Member

Eric Highers

Concerned Community Member

Lars Mackenzie

Graduate Student, University of Minnesota

Maria Laden

Concerned Community Member

James Christenson

Concerned Community Member

Vanessa Messersmith

Concerned community member

Joseph Maher

ONE LOVE

Mike Griffin

Concerned Community Member

Christena Cleveland
University
C. John Hildebrand

Ph.D., Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies, Bethel

Concerned Community Member

Mark Van Steenwyk

Pastor, the Mennonite Worker

Brita Higgins

Concerned Community Member

Brandi Olson
member

Jordan neighborhood resident and concerned community

Pamela Y. Cook, Esq

Life

Chaplain Intern, Redeemer Lutheran Church & Redeemer Center for

Chelsea Forbrook

MPS teacher

Holly Slattery

Concerned Community Member

Alanna Morris-Van Tassel

Concerned Community Member

Steve Clemens

Minneapolis resident

Charity Kroeker

Concerned Community Member

Jack O'Leary

Concerned Community Member

Raymond Calubayan

Concerned Community Member

Bethany Theobald

Concerned Community Member

Terry W. Hokenson

Board Member, Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light

Nancy Nair

Concerned Community Member

Russ Barclay

Concerned Community Member

Jamie Buss

Concerned Community Member

Dawn Pivec

Concerned Community Member

Lora Pedersen

Concerned Community member

Corliss Zawistowski

Concerned Community member

Marcia Foutch

Concerned Community Member

Linda L Richards
injury
Ryan Peterson

Brain Injury Specialist in rehab, for persons with traumatic brain

Concerned Community Member

G Zachariah White, PsyD

Licensed Psychologist

Orin Rubin

Concerned community member

Matthew Masurka

Musician, Concerned Community Member

Jennifer Arnold

Community organizer

Nathan Michielson

University of Minnesota Student

Morgan Bird

Concerned Community Member

Peter William Atkins

Concerned Community Member

Alexis Boxer

Conservation Organizer, Sierra Club

Nick Espinosa

Occupy Homes MN, United Neighborhood Alliance

Bobbi Dahlstrom

Whittier resident

Rike Miggs

Concerned Community Member

Cesar Atienzo

Concerned Community Member

Alexandra Vagac

Chair of the Board of Directors, MPIRG

Nicholas Cotta

Student at University of Minnesota

Grayson Carr

Community member

Dr. Sarah Humpage Liuzzi

Economist, Concerned Community Member

Alyssa Ramsden

MPIRG Board Director

Aaron Furuseth

Concerned Community Member

Austin Zyvoloski

Concerned Community Member

Stacia Martin

Concerned Community Member

Anton Schieffer

Concerned Community Member

Emily Lund

Concerned community member

Adam Loomis

Minneapolis resident, artist and activist

Guy Wagner
Zoe Prinds-Flash
Abbi Dion

Concerned Community Member

Photographer, Concerned Community Member
University of Minnesota Graduate Student and Concerned Citizen

Eden Yosief

Concerned Community Member

Sam Gould

Concerned Community Member

Emerson Gutierrez
Phill Kelly
Ryan Johnson

Concerned Community Member

Interim Executive Director, West Bank Community Coalition
Concerned Community Member

Nien Liu

Concerned Community Member

Josh J. Kaplan

Concerned Community Member

Greg Neis

Concerned Community Member

Will Dockendorf

Teacher

Mike Hoyt

Concerned community member

Ruby Levine

Concerned Community Member

Peter Pawlowski

Concerned Community Member, PACIM Board Member

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

University of Minnesota Student

Anya Cleaver

Concerned Community Member

Louis Mielke

Student, University of Minnesota-TC

Pahoua Yang Hoffman

Concerned Community Member

Margaret Levin

State Director, Sierra Club North Star Chapter

Matthew Saint-Germain
From

Student, University of Minnesota and Business Owner, Freedom

Brian Matthew Hart

Concerned Community Member

Jonathan K. Davis

Concerned Community Member

Angie Hanson-Huff

Concerned Community Member

Adam Levy

Concerned community member

Janey Winterbauer

Musician, citizen of Minneapolis

Patricia Enger

Actor

Rosalie Pierce

Concerned community member

Kathy DeKrey

Concerned Community Member

Sarah Peters

Artist and arts administrator with Northern Lights.mn

Lars Hayne

Concerned community member

Robyn Hendrix

Concerned community member

Dominique B

Energy Efficiency

Wil Sampson-Bernstrom

Concerned Community Member

Ben Severns
Juleana Enright

Community Educator
Writer, Concerned Community Member

Dean Otto

Concerned Community Member

Nicholas Clark

Concerned community member

Lacey Prpic Hedtke

Artist, concerned community member

Katie Hargrave

Concerned Community Member

Shanai Matteson

Collaborative Director, Works Progress Studio

Lara Avery

Editor, Revolver

Erik Brandt

Professor, Minneapolis College of Art + Design

Mark Borrello

Concerned Community Member

Amanda Luker

Boneshaker Books

Arwyn Birch

Business owner

Randall K. Cohn
Mitchell

Program Supervisor., Avenues for Homeless Youth; Law Student, William

Josie Shardlow

Concerned Mpls resident

Elisabeth Workman

Poet, writer

Danielle Thompson

Concerned Community Member

Lance W Conrad

Local business owner, music community organizer

Christopher Caesar

Concerned Community Member

Elizabeth Stewart

Concerned Community Member

Regan Smith

Concerned Community Member

Rachel Bean

Concerned Community Member

Donna Buer

Concerned Community Member

Bradley Coleman Johnson

Concerned community member

Kyrra Rankine

Concerned Community Member

Katherine Kazama

Concerned community member

Jonathan Stensland,

Concerned Neighbor

Cassie Warholm-Wohlenhaus

Librarian, Hennepin County Library-Franklin

Kevin Van Meter

PhD Student, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Melissa Hysing

Concerned Community Member

Mamie Xiong

Concerned community member

Evan S. Giffin

Concerned community member

Sharon Goens-Bradley
Committee
Christian Erickson
Rowena Ng

Healing Justice Program Director, American Friends Service

Minneapolis Resident and Business Owner

University of Minnesota Graduate Student

Andrew Molle

Concerned Community Member

Travis Workman

Assistant Professor/University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Ashley Fairbanks

Artist/Organizer, Concerned Community Member

Paul Corts

Teacher of Color

Danielle Kasprzak

Concerned Community Member

Colin Kloecker

Co-Director, Works Progress Studio, Concerned Community Member

Yusuf Ahmad

Concerned Community Member

Bryan Pyle

Concerned Community Member

Susan Kikuchi

Labor organizer

Nancy Helfrich

Concerned Community Member

Paul Achmelzer

Concerned community member

Jessica Mueller

Director of Development and Marketing, Urban Homeworks

David Petersen

Owner, David Petersen Gallery

Julie Graves

Youth worker

Amy Mingo

Concerned Community Member

Peter Simonson
Pamela Isham
Kristen Murray

Executive Sous Chef Peoples Organic, Minneapolis homeowner

Concerned community member
Minneapolis resident

Samuel Bjorgum

Concerned community member

Taryn Tessneer

Concerned Community Member

Marque Jensen

Writer, Teacher, and VP of Minne-Mex Construction

Arjun Kataria

Graduate Student, Carlson School of Management

Cheryl Wilgren

Concerned community member

Jesse Petersen

Concerned community member

Melody L Hoffmann

Professor, Concerned Community Member

Tom Grant

Civilian

Rachel Young

Concerned Community Member

Lori Stee

Concerned Community Member

Paul Henry

Concerned community member

Jennifer Barclay

Mother, Minneapolis resident, Concerned community member

Maura Brown

Minneapolis resident

Jenn Schreiter

President, the Students' Cooperative

Kirsten R Hayman

Resident, Ready for Better

caty royce

Deeply Concerned community member

Eric Asboe

Concerned Community Member

Karlyn Avery-Derksen
Dave Jeffries
Victor Martinez
Emerson Beishline

Behavioral Health Nurse Clinician, Concerned Community Member

Anti-Racist Action
New Generation Church
Attorney and Concerned Community Member

Francisco Segovia

Center Director at Pillsbury-Waite House

Janet Lobberecht

Concerned community member

Erik Ostrom

Concerned community member

Gabriel Bozian
Sara Nelson
Dr. Valentine Cadieux
Jade Lichtsinn

Certified Student Attorney, William Mitchell College of Law

University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota and Concerned Community Member
LICSW, Resource Chemical and Mental Health

Sarah Valentine

Concerned Community Member

Eleanor Stoltz

Teacher, Minneapolis Public Schools

Molly Phillips

Concerned Community Member

Gudrun Lock

Concerned community member

Bruce Braun

Concerned Community Member

Brandon Kareef

Church Onward, Concerned Community Member

A. Weiers

Concerned community member

Mikel Herb

Concerned community member

Dr. Kate Derickson

University of Minnesota

Katrina Ann Haugen

Concerned Community Member

Stephen Kung

President, Urban Oasis LLC

Dylan Bradford-Kesti

Program Organizer, Land Stewardship Project

Pia Payne Shannon

Educator

Spencer Cox

Concerned Community member

Lalit Batra

University of Minnesota

Melinda Kernik

Concerned Community Member

Ananya Chatterjea

University of Minnesota

Paul Schulz

Concerned Community Member