1-6-2021 Superintendent Bangoura Encampment Remarks

President Cowgill and commissioners,

There are currently six tents at the encampment at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park.

On Thursday, December 31, we issued a notice to vacate the site within 72 hours and move to alternative shelter due to documented significant public health and safety concerns, including cold winter conditions, fires, overdoses/medical emergencies, growing size, and crimes and violence.

On Sunday, January 3, officers from the Minneapolis Park Police and the Minneapolis Police Departments responded to the Minnehaha encampment to check the welfare of an adult located inside one of the tents on site. Officers located an adult male inside a tent who was deceased. MPD Detectives are leading the investigation, working with Minneapolis Park Police and the Medical Examiner’s Office to find the nature and cause of death.

On Tuesday, January 5, we served a second notice to vacate the encampment at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park. We continue to be hopeful that the encampment disbands on its own.

Park staff have had almost daily outreach with the people living in the Minnehaha encampment. They have shared verbal and written communications about weather and fire-related hazards, and that encampments cannot continue through winter. Our outreach staff have consistently encouraged people to move into shelters, routinely finding available shelter spaces and offering them to encampment residents; however, most offers over the past few weeks and months have been declined. According to Hennepin County, although emergency shelters sometimes reach capacity at night, new beds become available every day, Board and Lodge beds are regularly available, and family shelter is always available.

Since mid-June, I have been meeting with our city, county and state partners who serve people without shelter and have been working to ensure that the process for shelter placements includes those living in the parks. Our partners have opened several new shelter facilities over the past few months, including the AVIVO Village which opened last week with 16 spaces and plans to have a total of 100 spaces completed over the next month or two.

Superintendent Al Bangoura