Accomplishments

Throughout John’s tenure as our Ramsey County Attorney, John has led with a collaborative spirit and innovative know-how to improve the quality of safety and justice for all. He’s brought people together to tackle our biggest challenges.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we were at our lowest. Rising incidents of shootings and carjackings across our community had more often resulted in finger-pointing and blame than meaningful solutions.

John responded by forming a Violence Reduction Leadership Group (VRLG) in March of 2021 to share information and unite our leaders. Comprised of top city and county public officials, including law enforcement, the members of the VRLG committed to ending the finger-pointing, and started working together to find real solutions to the challenges we faced. Today, we see this vision and collaboration come to fruition.

Through these collective efforts and many more, we’re delivering meaningful results for our community:

  • Providing collaborative leadership that unites public officials, law enforcement and community partners to strengthen safety and build trust.
  • Protecting public safety and combatting gun violence by prioritizing and prosecuting violent crimes committed with guns and connecting people to community-based resources and support to address the underlying needs driving cyclical violence.
  • Standing up for workers by investigating and holding accountable employers who steal wages from hard-working Minnesotans.
  • Transforming our response to sexual violence by recommitting to Start by Believing and focusing on continuous improvement, making Ramsey County a national model for trauma-informed, victim-centered prosecution and services for sexual assault victims.
  • Improving the quality of justice in Ramsey County through innovative and proven strategies, setting a national standard for a more fair and effective justice system for communities across our country.

By doubling down on our collaborative efforts, breaking down silos and aligning strategies, we have achieved remarkable progress:

  • 53% decrease in violent crime (since 2022);
  • Nation-leading reductions in carjackings (78% since 2021) and auto thefts for two years in a row (55% since 2023);
  • Near doubling our rate of solving non-fatal shootings (from 37% to over 70%), which has contributed to similar decreases in homicides, bringing justice and healing to victims and families and holding those who are harming our community accountable;
  • Significantly reducing recidivism and re-referral rates for youth by transforming our responses to young people referred to the justice system to be more restorative through meaningful community-based accountability;
  • Eliminating racial disparities in success rates for young people who are referred to community-based accountability by utilizing restorative interventions and shared decision making with our community and justice partners.
  • Partnering with law enforcement leaders to significantly decrease non-public-safety traffic stops (like those for minor equipment violations), improving safety for our officers and community members, alike, redirecting officer time to real threats to public safety, and reducing unnecessary and racially disparate stops and searches, building fairness and trust in our community.

These results reflect the power of true collaboration and a shared belief that justice should work for everyone. We are building partnerships and a shared community vision where improved public safety, fairness, and compassion go hand-in-hand.