(KNSI) — The Benton County portion of St. Cloud could be a Community OutPost.
In March of 2022, St. Cloud was awarded $475,000 in federal funds for a second COP House, and the County Board of Commissioners approved a letter of support for it at this week’s meeting.
Executive Director of the Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation Sonja Gidlow told KNSI News everything is still in the earliest phases. “The first thing that always needs to happen in a project of this kind is to determine the level of support that we have because, without that, no project is going to be successful.”
She says COP Houses are a win-win, and the board is looking for support from all area public entities. The next step is assessing the area’s needs because officials “don’t necessarily go into a neighborhood or a community and say, ‘Hey, we know what you need.’ We would be doing some sort of community survey to ask those residents. What are your needs? What are your thoughts on how we can serve this community better?”
In 2017, the St. Cloud Police Department established its first COP House in south St. Cloud to increase public safety and help community policing. It was the first of its kind in Minnesota.
The second location would be placed somewhere on the east side.
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