Here’s the truth: when 14 people are shot in a single 24-hour stretch, the County Attorney’s Office must be all hands on deck.

This weekend, 14 people were shot in Minneapolis in less than 24 hours. Nine outside a nightclub in Uptown, all of them in their late teens and twenties. Five more on Nicollet Avenue on Sunday night. One man didn’t survive.

This is unacceptable.

I’m praying for the victims and their families, and I’m grateful to the Minneapolis police officers and Hennepin EMS crews who were on scene within a minute.

The victims and their families deserve action.

Here’s the truth: when 14 people are shot in a single 24-hour stretch, the County Attorney’s Office must be all hands on deck. Prosecutors need to be embedded with investigators from hour one, helping build charges that stick, moving quickly on the individuals pulling the trigger, and working with community partners to intervene before the next shooting happens.

We deserve more than a read-and-react approach.  The day I enter office, the County Attorney’s Office is going in a new direction. As your next Hennepin County Attorney, I will:

• Put prosecutors in lock-step with law enforcement on violent crime from day one
• Dedicate resources where violence is actually happening
• Set a proactive safety plan with clear, public expectations, so you can hold me accountable to it

If you believe Hennepin County needs a County Attorney who treats gun violence like the emergency it is, I’m asking for your support.

Anders Folk