Audit slams Minneapolis violence prevention oversight; Frey moves to cut interrupter funding
A critical audit questioned Minneapolis's violence-prevention oversight and led Mayor Jacob Frey to propose cutting the Violence Interrupter budget in half and redirecting funds to hire about two dozen city safety ambassadors.[1]
The audit names contractor Jamil Jackson of Change Equals Opportunity and accuses him of double-billing the city.[1] Jackson has appeared on camera and is publicly defending his bookkeeping.[1] Frey said the cuts are tied to weak compliance tracking and the difficulty of proving a "causal connection to results." FOX 9 He acknowledged "we have known the shortcomings of the whole framework for quite some time." FOX 9 He added, "When you are wrong, you admit it, and you try to do better." FOX 9 Attorney Dean Thomson said the audit proves "nothing has changed" and accused the city of paying on the "flimsiest of invoices," including a $200,000 bill for 15 workers with no timecards or proof of payment.[1]
Thomson, who previously sued the city over illegal contracting, warned the oversight failures mirror the pattern that led to the Feeding Our Future scandal.[1] He said lack of scrutiny of billing is "how Feeding Our Future got off the rails." FOX 9
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📌 Key Facts
- A critical audit called into question Minneapolis's violence-prevention oversight and prompted Mayor Frey to move to cut the Violence Interrupter budget in half and redirect funds to hire about two dozen city safety ambassadors, citing problems with compliance tracking and difficulty proving a “causal connection to results.”
- The audit names and puts on camera contractor Jamil Jackson of Change Equals Opportunity, accusing him of double-billing the city; Jackson is now publicly defending his bookkeeping.
- Mayor Frey acknowledged the problems, saying “we have known the shortcomings of the whole framework for quite some time” and adding, “When you are wrong, you admit it, and you try to do better.”
- Dean Thomson, an attorney who previously sued the city over illegal contracting, said the audit shows “nothing has changed,” accused payments on the “flimsiest of invoices,” and pointed to a $200,000 bill for 15 workers with no timecards or proof of payment.
- Thomson warned the violence-prevention oversight failures mirror the pattern that led to the Feeding Our Future scandal, saying lack of scrutiny of billing is “how Feeding Our Future got off the rails.”
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Names and puts on camera one key contractor, Jamil Jackson of Change Equals Opportunity, accused in the audit of double-billing the city; he is now publicly defending his bookkeeping.
- Details Frey’s plan to cut the Violence Interrupter budget in half and redirect funds to hire about two dozen city safety ambassadors, explicitly tying the move to compliance tracking and difficulty proving "causal connection to results."
- Quotes Frey acknowledging "we have known the shortcomings of the whole framework for quite some time" and saying, "When you are wrong, you admit it, and you try to do better."
- Quotes attorney Dean Thomson, who previously sued the city over illegal contracting, saying the audit proves "nothing has changed" and that money was paid on the "flimsiest of invoices," including $200,000 billed for 15 workers with no timecards or proof of payment.
- Connects the violence-prevention oversight failures to the broader pattern seen in the Feeding Our Future scandal, with Thomson warning this is "how Feeding Our Future got off the rails" when no one scrutinized billing.