Agencies again team up in Minneapolis to saturate crime hot spots for ‘Operation Safe Summer’

Minneapolis’ crime “hotspots” are once again saturated with law enforcement this week as part of a multi-agency operation aimed at getting guns and illegal drugs off the street and curbing crime before the hottest months of summer.

Now in its fourth year, “Operation Safe Summer” is a weeklong public safety initiative in which Minneapolis police partner with state, county and federal law enforcement agencies.

After addressing an auditorium filled with officers Wednesday at the department’s training center, Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters the operation has become an important way to get ahead of certain crime trends. It also targets the small number of people responsible for a disproportionate amount of violence in the city, according to a department news release.

“This is a weeklong, full-court press of this to try and set the tone for the summer and provide a sense of safety and a sense of presence for people,” O’Hara said.

In 2024, the operation led to 45 guns being confiscated, 98 arrests and 2,300 grams of narcotic drugs, 1,200 fentanyl pills and $10,000 in illegal currency being seized.

The first few days of this year’s operation saw nine illegal guns confiscated and 29 arrests, as well as some stolen cars recovered, O’Hara said.

There are also longer-term investigations as a part of the operation that O’Hara said would be detailed in a later report after the weeklong collaboration.

More than 100 officers were in attendance at the training center, consisting of a mix of Minneapolis police, Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies, Metro Transit police and a smaller cadre of federal officers. Most were in uniform, while a few were in plainclothes.

Speakers informed the crowd of officers which areas of the city they would be focusing on for “hotspots” in each of the city’s precincts.

The officers listened to an overview of city crime statistics, which showed reductions so far for homicides, gunshot victims, carjackings and fully-automatic gunfire detected by ShotSpotter compared to 2024.

Mayor Jacob Frey thanked the officers in attendance and stressed the importance of getting ahead of crime trends going into the midst of summer.

“It is so critically important that during these weeks that we get ahead of these issues as much as we possibly can, because we know it’s only heating up from here, literally and potentially figuratively,” Frey said.

Along with the weeklong enforcement increase, O’Hara said police will be a sizeable and visible police presence at the city’s large summertime events such as the Twin Cities Pride Festival and Fourth of July celebrations.

Minneapolis police staffing has lagged far below what it was since the pandemic and the civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd, when there was a large exodus of officers. But O’Hara said the staffing is “gradually getting better.”

The rank-and-file hit an all-time low of 560 in March of 2024, down from more than 900 in early 2020, according to payroll data. As of May 7, the sworn staffing level was up to 583, according to a department spokesman.

The department was looking to fill 148 positions as of May 7, which would get the staffing to the city charter’s mandated staffing level of 731.

In his closing remarks to officers, O’Hara emphasized the importance of the work to be done.

“I know there’s a lot of pressure on people, but again: Don’t cut corners. Do what you have to do and please be careful.”