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2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
SUBJECT: Use of Force Forum
BY: Lt. Mike Ceynowa
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Tomorrow Friday, September 14, 2018 the Duluth Police Department in partnership with FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, MN BCA, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, and Superior Police Department, planned to host a community forum titled Use of Force in Minnesota a Dialogue Between Law Enforcement and Communities of Inclusion. With respect for the NAACP’s request to postpone this community conversation, we are canceling tomorrow’s event. We invited 100 community members representing all parts of our communities Superior, Duluth, and St. Louis County. Initially, 60people confirmed they would attend. Invitees include representatives from NAACP, Clayton Jackson McGhee Memorial Inc, AICHO, Boise Forte, Indigenous Commission, Mending the Sacred Hoop, Damiano Center, City of Duluth Civilian Review Board, UMD, CSS, UWS, ISD 709, Boys and Girls Club, The Hills, Neighborhood Youth Services, Valley Youth Services, the Public Defender Office, Indian Legal, Courts, CHUM, Greater Downtown Council, local HealthCare providers, Men as Peace Makers, local business owners, politicians, and community members. With limited seating and dynamics of training, we could not invite additional people. We chose the Public Safety Building only after finding numerous neutral site venues booked.
This forum was intended to be the continuation of the tough conversations we as a community have been having about topics that impact people’s sense of safety and well-being. We acknowledge police don’t have all the answers, which is why community engagement is essential to this process.
This event has been hosted two other times in Minnesota, once in St. Cloud and the other in Rochester. At both of these events invites were limited to 30 people. In Duluth, we appreciate having an engaged community, as such, we requested to double community participation. Even in doubling this invite we knew there would be more interest than space. We were looking forward to the community asking tough questions and providing feedback on how we do our work and how we can be better. Friday was not intended to be the end of the conversation but rather a continuation with future events in the early planning stages. We look forward to rescheduling this event shortly and invite members of the NAACP and other communities of inclusion to help us plan the next event.