The City of Minneapolis announced Thursday that it will combat open-air drug markets with a multi-agency enforcement effort. That announcement comes days after federal authorities unveiled new indictments connected to Minneapolis drug markets.
“It’s time that we stop talking about [open-air drug markets] as homeless encampments,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a Thursday press conference. “The primary driver here is not homelessness and it is not a lack of shelter, it is deep addiction and pain.”
Frey announced that the city would offer services to those in need, “but if you don’t accept those services, you can’t continue to hurt our neighborhoods and make our streets less safe.”
In turn, the mayor announced that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Metro Transit Police, Minneapolis Park Police, and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) had begun “a proactive enforcement measure” against open-air drug markets.
“Law enforcement will proactively cite and arrest individuals engaging in illegal activity,” Frey said. “That means we will target drug dealers and those exploiting vulnerable people … we’ll cite those using openly, and if you do so in a way that is making it less safe for kids, or a school or business to operate, you’ll get arrested.”
Frey explained that those enforcement efforts would follow open-air drug markets if those markets move to different locations. They mayor said the city “will disrupt illegal activity wherever it occurs” but would provide “off-ramps” to people along the way.
Frey was joined at Thursday’s press conference by Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, personnel from the MPD, representatives from America Indian groups, and Minneapolis City Council Vice President Jamal Osman.
“Open-air drug markets will be dealt with, that I can promise you,” Witt said. “We will continue to enforce the very laws that are in place to assist us in dismantling the deadly drugs that are harming our community.”
During the press conference, Frey explained that the city’s new approach is “coupling both the carrot and the stick” to provide help to people while also enforcing the law.
“Just allowing a person to slowly kill themselves through fentanyl is not a compassionate approach,” the mayor said.
Two days ago, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen said his office had filed charges against more than 20 individuals who are reportedly associates or members of two Minneapolis-based drug trafficking organizations.
According to federal authorities, one of those drug trafficking organizations, known as the Family Mob, is responsible for distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, and crack cocaine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also said the gang operates an open-air drug market and uses violence to enforce its territory.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
