Summary
In late March, the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) created the Firearms Assault Shoot Team (FAST), a new unit dedicated to investigating non-fatal shootings as if they were homicides. FAST replicates efforts in a handful of cities around the country, including St. Paul, which have resulted in vastly improved solve rates and a marked reduction in retaliatory violence.
Background
In the late 2010’s, Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) staffing was healthy and as such the department maintained a stand-alone investigative unit, the Shoot Team, that investigated non-fatal shootings. In 2019, the MPD recorded 266 non-fatal shootings and 48 murders.
In 2020, following the Minneapolis uprising, there was in increase in anti-police rhetoric, including calls from the Minneapolis City Council to “defund” and “deconstruct” the MPD. The combination of this rhetoric and the prosecutions of four MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd led to the resignation of hundreds of MPD officers and the vacancy rate rose to a staggering 40%.
The staffing crisis led the MPD to make some tough choices, including disbanding its Shoot Team. This decision resulted in the already overburdened Homicide Unit being assigned all non-fatal shootings as well – a set up destined to fail.
Fewer officers meant less deterrence and a corresponding spike in violence. Fewer investigators meant fewer crimes were being solved. By 2021 non-fatal shootings had increased to 658 and murders to 94.
By 2024, despite the surge in violence beginning to dissipate, the solve rates had dropped to a dismal 65.3% for murders and just 22.6% for non-fatal shootings. A change was needed.
FAST
In October 2025 Center of the American Experiment partnered with the Minnesota Justice Research Center on a joint advocacy project to encourage the MPD to rededicate investigators to a standalone unit to investigate non-fatal shootings, freeing up Homicide Unit detectives to focus exclusively on murders.
Our two organizations presented data and best practices to the Minneapolis City Council, which subsequently allocated funding to support the move.
This advocacy was replicated in the 2026 Minnesota legislative session where the final public safety bill allocated over $900,000 in grant funding for law enforcement across the state with a demonstrated need to focus on improving non-fatal shooting solve rates.
On March 23rd, 2026, the MPD quietly began the FAST Unit as part of its Violent Crimes Investigative Division. The FAST unit members were handpicked to ensure they had the experience and tenacity to overcome the difficulties in investigating cases involving uncooperative victims, witnesses, and suspects often associated with non-fatal shootings. FAST is commanded by a lieutenant and is comprised of seven MPD officers, four MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) agents, one Ramsey County Sheriff’s deputy, one Metro Transit officer, three Bloomington police officers, and a Hennepin County Sheriff’s criminal intelligence specialist.
I met with Lt. Adam Lepinski last week for an update on FAST. Lt. Lepinski shared that since mid-March there had been 41 non-fatal shootings with 53 victims. Prior to FAST each of those cases would have been assigned to the already overburdened homicide detectives, and the follow-up would have been markedly different.
According to Lt. Lepinski, at least 25 of the non-fatal shootings have happened at night or on weekends, generating after-hours call outs of the FAST Unit. This heightened response to non-fatal shootings has already made a positive impact in several cases. Witnesses, victims, and citizen members have all provided positive feedback with the response of FAST. The responses have also led to an improved collection of evidence, including video evidence from adjacent businesses and “Ring” doorbells for example.
FAST has also made more consistent use of technology like the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) which compares ballistic evidence recovered from a shooting scene to other shootings or gun seizures. This effort helps link incidents and identify suspects promptly, allowing investigators to intercept potential retaliatory violence before it occurs.
It’s too early to use unit data in any useful way to measure FAST’s success in solving more cases. The unit has only been in operation for two months, and too many of the cases remain under active investigation. However, anecdotally the effort has been a complete success in the early stages, and there’s every reason to believe the effort will result in a much higher percentage of cases solved and a corresponding sustained reduction in shootings and retaliatory violence.
Year to date data from the MPD Dashboard shows non-fatal shootings in 2026 are down 12% over the same period last year and 29% over the three-year average.
This is welcome news for Minneapolis and the MPD.
