Minneapolis may soon swap squad cars for clipboards at minor crash scenes, as the city prepares a pilot program that would send uniformed civilian crash investigators to handle non-injury, property-damage collisions. City leaders say the test is one of two federally funded pilots and is expected to run for about a year while officials decide whether to keep it going.
Federal Grant Backs Two New Pilots
The effort is funded by a $2.5 million federal Byrne discretionary grant, according to the NIJ. On the NIJ site, the award appears as an FY2023 invited-to-apply project labeled a 9-1-1 First Responder Study and Pilot.
What The Pilots Would Change On The Street
City officials say the grant will pay for two efforts: a civilian response to non-injury traffic incidents and a juvenile deflection program. Under the traffic crash pilot, 911 dispatchers could send civilian traffic investigators to property-damage collisions to meet drivers, document what happened and take photos. Those responders would be clearly identified, officials say, but “it will not be a law enforcement uniform.”
The city also plans to partner with academic teams to dig into 911 call data and look for other chances to divert calls away from police. The goal is to boost the share of calls handled without officers from roughly 9 percent toward a 20 percent target, as reported by KSTP.
Building On Earlier Non-Police Responses
The pilot is the latest in a series of non-police options Minneapolis has been rolling out, including an unarmed Behavioral Crisis Response team and community safety pilots run through the Office of Community Safety. That office and its new design director say pilots let the city test services and performance measures in real-world conditions before deciding whether to scale them up, according to the Office of Community Safety.
Residents And Police See Upside
Downtown residents told reporters they like the idea, with one noting “it looks so intense when an actual police officer shows up” and another calling the change overdue. Minneapolis police told KSTP that “without a doubt, the program supported by this grant will free up officers to respond to higher priority 911 calls,” and the department said the shift could shorten response times to serious emergencies.
Next Steps And Timeline
City staff say they are ready to launch the pilots once the federal dollars are available and will use part of the grant to hire a project coordinator to track results before any expansion. City Council records show the council accepted and appropriated the Byrne award on Oct. 2, 2024, clearing the way for planning to move ahead. Officials say they will release launch details once the pilots are up and running.
