model cities police and community drop-in center

Minneapolis was chosen in November 1967 as one of sixty-three cities nationwide to participate in the federally sponsored Demonstration Cities (Model Cities) Program.

With funding from the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD), the Minneapolis Model City Program concentrated its efforts in the Whittier neighborhood which at the time was a racially-integrated neighborhood that suffered from high unemployment, crime, poverty, and housing and educational deficiencies.

One of the outcomes of the Model City Program was the establishment of the Model City 6th Precinct at 2639 Nicollet Avenue.  The precinct was bordered by I-94 and E 36th St on the north and south and Hiawatha and Lyndale Avenues on the east and west.  The five square mile precinct had a population of 58,000 or about 13% of the population of the city but 23% of the city’s major crimes.

The Model City Police and Community Drop-In Center was an integral part of the Model Cities approach to building more meaningful relationships between the community and the police.

The Drop-In Center started out in one room with only a small number of apprehensive youth stopping by to check it out.  It grew to be a highly-popular meeting place not only for youth but for entire families.  It had a boxing program, a women’s self-defense program, and arts, crafts and music programs.

At its height in the 1970s, the Drop-In Center had over 150 officers and hundreds of youth participating in its programs.