In the early 1990s, Youth Personal Safety Workshops were held in the Elliott Park neighborhood.
In 1992, the workshops were expanded to include children residing at the 410 Family Shelter and also children in programs at Catholic Charities Branch III.
The workshops were sponsored by the Crime Prevention Committee of Elliott Park Neighborhood Inc (EPNI) with assistance from Community Crime Prevention/SAFE, the Elliott Park Community Oriented Policing Program (EP-COPP), and the Minneapolis Police Department.
Representing the Minneapolis Police Department at the workshops were Officers Mike Taylor and Wally Carlson.
On July of 1992, nearly 20 young people attended a workshop in Franklin Steele Park. On July 30, another 50 young people participated in a second workshop at Elliott Park.
Prior to the workshops that July, the young attendees were asked to write a short essay for a book about their feelings and thoughts on crime and safety. Volunteers helped to record the thoughts of children too young to write their own essays, so the essays contained in the book represented young people from the ages of 3 to 15.
Today, we are sharing all of their essays here with you.
Elliot Park Youth Speak Out on Crime and Safety book courtesy of Hennepin County Library