Cedric Alexander promised to work to better coordinate safety services and rebuild trust in Minneapolis if the City Council approves his nomination to serve as the city's first community safety commissioner.
He also warned residents and council members, in his first public meeting with them Tuesday, that change would take time and he would need their support to ensure the city fulfills residents' demands to improve safety after George Floyd's murder.
"I'm not God. I'm not Batman. I'm not going to be the guy who saves the community in and of itself by myself," he said. "It's really going to take all of us to do that."
Alexander is in line to take the helm of a new community safety office aimed at better supervising and coordinating leaders of the city's police, fire, 911, emergency management and violence prevention programs. Mayor Jacob Frey nominated him for the new role last month and the City Council could decide as soon as Thursday whether to grant its approval. Elected officials would then need to pass separate ordinances to create the new office and flesh out details of its operations.
Alexander, 67, spent decades working in law enforcement and has a doctorate in clinical psychology. Before retiring, he worked in a variety of local, state and federal offices, including in Georgia's DeKalb County, where he served as public safety director, a role similar to the one he's up for now.
During a two-and-a-half hour meeting of the City Council's Committee of the Whole, a small group of residents shared their thoughts on Alexander's nomination, the creation of the new position, and the status of crime and politics in the city.
One speaker, Brenda Short, noted that many residents are already feeling crushed financially and questioned the price tag for the new job, which comes with a salary ranging between roughly $295,000 and $350,000.
"I'm not saying this man is not right for the job," Short said. "I'm saying we should not throw so much money at this man who has not been in our city."
Lisa Clemons, a retired police sergeant and founder of street outreach group A Mother's Love, urged council members to approve his nomination. Still shaking after a shooting broke out as she drove through the intersection of Broadway and Lyndale avenues, Clemons said she's exhausted and her children are traumatized. "I don't care what you got to pay him," Clemons said. "Hire him."
After residents spoke, Alexander said he felt their pain and the "trauma that still exists" in Minneapolis. "I feel your heart, and I feel your willingness to want to change things," he said.
He then faced a litany of questions from council members, who pressed him on his plans for recruiting police and other emergency responders whose ranks have decreased in recent years, for improving accountability and for his thoughts on how he will handle crises in the community.
Alexander said he plans to look at whether the city could take recruitment processes closer to candidates, offer applications online, meet recruits at local restaurants or offer tests across the country.
He said he plans to look at whether there are ways to strengthen training by ensuring that lessons are not merely just an effort to "check a box" but are incorporated into performance evaluations. He said he also supports efforts to provide social services, including to crime victims, and to look at whether civilians could take over some tasks that are currently handled by police and aren't dangerous.
"Policing was not designed to be reactionary," he said. "It was designed to be preventative."
Council Member Aisha Chughtai asked Alexander to provide more details about how he handled officer-involved shootings in his past jobs and how they would affect his approach in Minneapolis. Alexander said he will aim to be forthright with the public, including when his employees make mistakes, and has worked to ensure that outside agencies investigate high-profile incidents when necessary.
Chughtai also asked Alexander for information about a sexual harassment investigation stemming from his time in DeKalb County. Alexander said the complaint had been lodged by "someone that we fired" and an investigation determined it was "unfounded and without merit." The Star Tribune has requested a copy of Alexander's personnel file from DeKalb County officials, including any records pertaining to complaints or investigations, but has not yet received those documents.
A majority of council members voted Tuesday to advance Alexander's nomination, setting it up for a final vote as early as Thursday. Chughtai abstained. Council Members Andrew Johnson, Jeremiah Ellison and Lisa Goodman were absent for the vote.
