Delay on safety and training center decision

A shared building for police and fire department staff has been called many things – a one stop shop, cop city, cop university, cop corner store – but it’s on hold, for now.

The City Council voted 7-6 on March 26, 2026 to refer two resolutions back to City staff regarding its proposed Community Safety Training and Wellness Center near the intersection of 60th Street and Pleasant Avenue in the Windom neighborhood.

The training and wellness center would be used by police, fire, 911, behavioral crisis response, emergency management, and neighborhood safety staff, according to City staff. Invested parties argue the building would elevate training and wellness resources for emergency staff – resources that are currently piecemeal across the city.

“Police reform isn’t just a campaign talking point,” Ward 13 Council Member Linea Palmisano said at a March 24 council meeting. “If we are serious, it involves investment and training.”

City, Fire Department and Police Department leadership lobbied the City Council during the last week of March to approve $6 million in funding to purchase industrial land bordered by a residential street in the Windom neighborhood.

The City Council was split on supporting a new facility, specifically for the Minneapolis Police Department.

Updating police facilities is one aspect taking shape from its settlement agreement with the City.

The MPD currently trains out of a former school building in North Minneapolis, known as the Hamilton Special Operations Center. Council Member Latrisha Vetaw raised concerns about the inequity in Northside having to shoulder a training center and shooting range (currently at the 4th Precinct).

But many council members are not in agreement with approving the start to an estimated $38 million building project, especially on the heels of the MPD self-reporting in early March that it spent $5 million in January on overtime during Operation Metro Surge.

The council also approved $18 million for a new 3rd precinct and community safety center at 2633 Minnehaha Ave. on March 26. A half million dollars for a temporary training and wellness space at the 1st precinct was approved by the City Council and mayor in February 2026.

NOT IDEAL TIMING FOR MORE POLICE FUNDING
“We should recognize that this is not the ideal timing for this,” Ward 11 Council Member Jamison Whiting said at the March 26 City Council meeting. It’s “a frustration that I hold, I think a lot of my colleagues hold, I think a lot of my constituents also hold.”

Whiting represents the area where the proposed building would be developed. He proposed to refer the two resolutions back to staff.

Many council members expressed disapproval of spending any money on the land purchase or proposed building.

“When money is so tight and the city’s needs so large, it is shocking to be presented with this massive and relatively unproductive spending,” Ward 8 Council Member Soren Stevenson said at the council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on March 24.

Funding for the initial $6 million to purchase the land was to be taken primarily from existing Animal Care and Control renovation ($3.7 million) and traffic safety improvement ($1.8 million) funds.

Funding for the actual training and wellness building would include a bonding bill involving State legislators.

“We need to just decide that this is not our priority and move on to things that are, in fact, our priority,” Stevenson said, citing livability as a top priority his constituents talk to him about.

Palmisano has been advocating for a police training and wellness center since 2018. Palmisano said her advocacy stems from the killing of Justine Damond by former MPD officer Mohamed Noor in 2017.

“These are long-term priorities,” Palmisano said. “This training center is an important and central function of city government. It deserves continued focus.”

The need for training and wellness building
The City and MPD issued a facilities report in June 2025, as mandated in the settlement agreement, that showed an estimated $60 million worth of projects were already underway at the 1st, 2nd, and former 3rd Precincts.

A facilities report was also conducted prior by Wold Architects and Engineers in 2023.

The internal “Equipment, Technology, and Facilities Response Plan” report details each police precinct’s facilities needs, as mandated in the settlement agreement (“determine what facility repairs and what additional facilities are required”).

Every precinct, except the 5th Precinct, lists “move out of the existing facility to a purposefully designed new police facility,” as a high priority on its suggested repair list. The 2023 external report had similar suggestions.

The list of recommended repairs suggest the MPD’s facilities are generally rundown. There is 35-year-old carpet in the 4th Precinct, leaking roofs at multiple locations, and the existing MPD training building has only one working water fountain.

“If we don’t have more time, it’s going to cost significantly more eventually to purchase the next ‘unicorn’ property as it’s talked about. And we need more time,” Palmisano said at the March 26 council meeting.

Voting in favor to send the resolutions back to staff on March 26 were: Council Vice President Jamal Osman and Council Members LaTrisha Vetaw, Pearll Warren, Jamison Whiting, Michael Rainville, Elizabeth Shaffer, Jamison Whiting and Linea Palmisano.

Voting against sending the resolutions back to staff were: Council President Elliott Payne and Council Members Aisha Chughtai, Robin Wonsley, Soren Stevenson, Jason Chavez and Aurin Chowdhury.