New Minneapolis neighborhood safety director focused on regaining trust

Harrington aims to restore trust in Neighborhood Safety Department

Newly-appointed Neighborhood Safety Department Director Amanda Harrington said her top priority is to regain public trust in the embattled department. FOX 9's Paul Blume has the full story.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Amanda Harrington was sworn in this week as Director of the Minneapolis Neighborhood Safety Department. The office is responsible for overseeing and managing millions of dollars in violence prevention funding that goes beyond traditional policing in the state’s largest city.

In a one-on-one interview with FOX 9 Investigators, Harrington says her top priority is regaining trust both inside and outside of City Hall.

Ready to get to work

What we know:

Harrington steps into the violence prevention leadership role following the January resignation of her predecessor, Luana Nelson-Brown.

According to city data, the Neighborhood Safety Department has a $10.7 million budget in 2025. Her position is tasked with "leading the city’s newest department, engaging with community groups and empowering grassroots organizations, helping them mitigate the issues that can cause crime and violence in their communities," reads a statement from City Hall.

"In Neighborhood Safety, my number one priority is, I think, regaining trust, both in the city and outside the city. The team that is down there has started doing that already, so my job won't be quite as hard, but things have been hard over the last few years. We all know that, and we're working to make it different."

Dig deeper:

Harrington joined the City of Minneapolis in November 2023, working in the Office of Community Safety where she supervised the development of the community safety centers. She also oversaw several new programs including the Community Safety Ambassadors that are set to hit the streets soon.

Prior to joining the city, Harrington spent time with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office where she directed a program focused on reducing truancy and increasing school attendance for K-12 students.

Harrington holds a master’s and law degree. She previously worked as a therapist with various social service providers in Minneapolis, including the Northside Child Development Center, the Domestic Abuse Project, and the CornerHouse Interagency Child Abuse Evaluation & Training Center.

"I have an interesting mix of skills," said Harrington. "I really liked school. I was drawn to social work and then decided to go to law school. And so, the job that I have here is an amazing mix for both of those skills."

"She is exactly the right person at exactly the right moment to lead this new and innovative department," Mayor Jacob Frey said at Harrington’s swearing in ceremony on Monday.

Neighborhood safety turmoil

The backstory:

Minneapolis’ Neighborhood Safety Department and the violence prevention organizations doing the work on the streets of Minneapolis have been under growing scrutiny because of lawsuits, allegations of fraud and mismanagement as well as heated arguments at city hall. Over the last several months, multiple city council members said they have no confidence in the Neighborhood Safety Department to oversee and administer the work.

The FOX 9 Investigators obtained an internal audit that revealed one nonprofit is accused of double billing the city and county for 80 to 90-hour work weeks over a multiyear contract worth more than $700,000.

Harrington says the guardrails are in place to prevent something like this from happening in the future.

"We have our very own contracting requirements," explained Harrington. "We have our own invoice, people checking the invoices. We have our own pots of money that we are using. And so, they are separate. And we have been trying to be more collaborative so that we do not accidentally create a situation where somebody might be double-dipping on purpose or accidentally."

Violence Interrupters off the street

What's next:

An early item on Harrington’s to-do list is signing off on new contracts with several Violence Interrupter groups.

The Violence Interrupters are nonprofit organizations deploying unarmed outreach teams across the city to keep the peace and address issues they may come across.

As the FOX 9 Investigators previously reported, the city council recently signed off on more than $3 million in annual contracts that were slated to begin April 1.

But more than a month later, those contracts are unsigned with several groups pushing back on new city requirements including health insurance for employees, background checks, and mandated deployment numbers.

"I am sure it could feel like a ‘take it or leave it’ for some groups given the drastic amount of changes that are involved, but it is always a negotiation," said Harrington. "There are things that we have said yes to and there are things organizations have said no to. There is discussion. Again, is that something that's fun to talk about? No, but it has been a true negotiation."

Without contracts, some Violence Interrupters have been left on the sidelines as Minneapolis deals with a stretch of recent violence that has included a quadruple homicide and the deadly shooting of a teenager right outside the Federal Reserve Bank downtown. Harrington expects to have the issue resolved before the start of summer.

"We are going to have people out there pretty soon," she said.