Minneapolis Prepares for Derek Chauvin Trial with New Communications Equipment

City officials of Minneapolis are taking extra precautions in anticipation of the upcoming trial for Derek Chauvin. The local government hopes that additional resources will help avoid problems that the city dealt with last summer during the riots that started in response to the murder of George Floyd.

Community leaders in the Twin (News - Alert) Cities have been holding weekly meetings to address the potential unrest that may follow during and after the trial. Officials have also created a dedicated communication line specifically for this matter, and have purchased backup equipment to manage possible surges in call volume. During the riots last year, many residents experienced problems with 911 call centers and had trouble connecting with emergency responders.

"If the cell towers become overloaded and we have calls routing into partner agencies, we've developed a dedicated radio channel that can be used to communicate between the (911 centers) so they're not having to call into our already overloaded telephone lines," said 911 Director Joni Hodne.

The main objective for the city is to provide citizens with redundant resources to ensure that callers can receive a response despite call volume. Backup communications equipment has been stored in secure public locations to prevent possible destruction, which became a problem last year when previous equipment was burned during the first round of protests.

Special guidance will be released to citizens in the coming weeks to provide information on how to contact emergency services. Hodne reiterated that callers should still use 911 in the event of a serious life emergency, but non-emergency calls should be directed to the MPD tip line at (612) 692-8477.

Edited by Maurice Nagle