For Immediate Release CONTACT: Ian D. Bethel 612 801 0034
October 22, 2025
4th Annual UCMT Report Back to the Community
Celebrating Another Year of Public Safety Transformation in Minneapolis
Unity Community Mediation Team (UCMT) invites the community to join in a celebration of public safety transformation in Minneapolis, Thursday, October 23rd at the Urban League Twin Cities, in the lower level, 2100 Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and a multicultural community dinner will be served along with multi-cultural presentations at 5:30 p.m. This will be followed by comments from our Community Based Sites on the importance of UCMT and the Police Community Relations Council (PCRC). This year’s accomplishments will be discussed by Cynthia Wilson, NAACP Minneapolis President, MPD Chief Brian O’Hara, PCRC Co-Chair, and Reverend Ian D. Bethel, UCMT Chair and PCRC Co-Chair. Minneapolis elected officials will also address the group and there will be plenty of time for Q and A and networking.
“In 2025 we have taken significant steps forward together with MPD, through the PCRC. It has been a year of real progress with the establishment of Community Based Sites in all our diverse Minneapolis communities. Together, working with MPD in the PCRC to transform public safety in Minneapolis, we have strengthened all aspects of real community policing,” said UCMT Chair Ian Bethel. “We will work harder than ever in 2026 to move forward toward all the goals spelled out in our MOU, our signed agreement with MPD and the City of Minneapolis.”
Key 2025 Accomplishments
Use of Force in 2025
· UCMT’s Community Based Sites in all Minneapolis communities are open and are assisting community members making complaints of mistreatment by an MPD officer. Accountability is a core value of UCMT.
· UCMT is in close conversation with ELEFA, the monitor of the court supervised agreement between the City of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota to address the years and decades long mistreatment and abuse of primarily African American and Native American community members in Minneapolis.
Community Relationships in 2025
· PCRC continues to be a national model for development of community relations with police based on mutual respect, transparency, accountability, and consequences.
· All our meetings are public and we invite community to attend and be involved in this work
Diversity in 2025
· UCMT is working actively to achieve full diversity of MPD through joint work with MPD to recruit, retain, and promote officers from communities that have been historically excluded
· We are encouraging community leaders, elders and family members to help young people who might be interested in a career with MPD to explore the options available to them, including paid internships, free college tuition, and job openings.
· We want good policing in our communities. Community must consider becoming police officers to make sure the needed changes are made to keep our communities safe.
Training in 2025
· UCMT is providing community mentors for all new officer recruits joining MPD. We welcome the new officers to our community and introduce them to community leaders and programs that are assets in our communities that can help officers understand and more effectively respond to crisis situations they encounter as police officers.
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UCMT-Unity Community Mediation Team, 4301 First Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55409
Ian D. Bethel, Chair 612 407 7660 ucmt2003@gmail.com unitycommunitymediatonteam.us
REFORM, TRANSFORMATION, TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND CONSEQUENCES
IN PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE COMMUNITY
