Fentanyl, staffing, and youth: Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt reflects on her first year in office

This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for their free newsletter to receive stories in your inbox.

Leading the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office was not how Dawanna Witt expected her career to pan out. 

She grew up in south Minneapolis, and had encounters with law enforcement that “weren’t always pleasant experiences.” She said she was raised in a negative environment, surrounded by drug addiction, alcoholism and mental health issues that were never addressed. Her family members were sent to the very jail she now oversees as sheriff, a post she’s held for a little more than a year. 

“To say that I’m in this role now, it’s still sometimes like, ‘What happened here?’” she said. “I definitely didn’t see myself in this profession.” 

Witt was elected sheriff in November 2022, and was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2023. She is the first woman and first person of color to lead the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which is in charge of the county’s jail and provides emergency response across the county, among other responsibilities. 

She’s taken steps to work more closely with youth and to address the county’s fentanyl crisis, but says a lot of work needs to be done to recruit and retain deputies to address staffing challenges. 

Some community members say they are pleased with Witt’s performance so far, pointing to her creation of a youth advisory board and her commitment to tackling the fentanyl crisis. But others say they’re always skeptical of law enforcement. 

Jae Yates, a lead organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark, said that no matter who is sheriff, systemic issues in law enforcement will continue, and residents still don’t have oversight over the police. 

“It really doesn’t matter, because the structure of how the police function is the same, no matter who is in the sheriff’s seat,” Yates said. 

Connecting with youth

A group of teenagers toured the Hennepin County sheriff’s crime lab and the old county jail in downtown Minneapolis on a February evening. They eagerly asked how deputies gather evidence like fingerprints and shell casings at crime scenes, and how the evidence is analyzed. 

“We are the new generation, and eventually, Gen Z, we’re going to be the people that are making all these decisions,” said one of the teenagers, Alexandria Li, a junior at Edina High School.

Li serves on the sheriff’s youth advisory board, which she described as a valuable opportunity for young people to share their opinions with officials. 

Witt has worked with young people throughout her nearly 25-year career. She worked as a school resource officer during her time as a deputy with the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office.

When she became Hennepin County sheriff, she knew she wanted to continue connecting with youth, so she created the youth advisory board made up of teenagers from high schools across the county.

“Working with kids has always been important to me, and I feel like nobody’s hearing, listening to them,” she said. 

The teens, who are appointed by Witt, meet monthly, learn about different areas of the sheriff’s office, and give Witt feedback on what they’re seeing in their communities. 

One issue the group has discussed is fentanyl use among young people. 

“I know people that personally have had issues with that, or have loved ones that they’ve lost from that,” Li said. “That was really moving for me to talk about it and hear what is being done about it.” 

A turning point

Witt said she didn’t expect to find a career in law enforcement. She became a mother at 15, and left home so her daughter wouldn’t grow up in the same environment as she did. Witt studied chemical dependency and family therapy in college, and initially worked in nonprofits. She applied to become a detention deputy with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office after hearing that the office wanted to hire more women of color. She was hired in 2000.

She went back to school to become a licensed peace officer and was hired as a deputy by the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office in 2004. She returned to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in 2019, and became a major, overseeing the county jail.

Witt said the Minneapolis police’s murder of George Floyd in 2020 was one of the most difficult times in her life, and a turning point in her career. She said she didn’t want to sit behind her desk as protests erupted across the Twin Cities, so she instead spoke with people demonstrating in downtown Minneapolis. She said she wanted to make sure people were able to protest without breaking the law. 

“I was pushing myself to go out there and talk to people, even the people who didn’t want to talk to me,” she said.

A few years later, she was campaigning for the sheriff’s position. She said it was important for her to be authentic, tell voters the story of her upbringing, and not get caught up in the politics of the position.

“I never would say anything that made me feel like I was not being truthful,” she said. “I never said anything that I didn’t believe in. I never said things that made me uncomfortable. If I can’t trust my moral compass or who I am, then who am I?”

Working with community

Bridgette Stewart works for the Minnesota Agape Movement and serves on the sheriff’s adult community advisory board. Stewart said the group, like the youth advisory board, has spent the past year learning how the sheriff’s office operates. She said she appreciates the office’s work connecting with the community compared to efforts from other law enforcement agencies in the area. 

“I think the sheriff’s department is the only one that’s actually building small steps of trust with the community on any level of law enforcement,” Stewart said. 

Stewart said she would like to see more engagement between the office and high schoolers at sporting events or community gatherings. 

Jill Sims also serves on the adult advisory board, and works as the director of government relations for Hospitality Minnesota. She has volunteered with the sheriff’s office for years, and also served on the community advisory board under Witt’s predecessor, Dave Hutchinson.

She said that under Witt’s leadership, the board feels like more of a priority than it did in the past. 

“We have strong representation of who and what Hennepin County is, and we’re all committed to making the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office the best to serve the community,” Sims said. 

Accomplishments and goals

Reflecting on accomplishments in her first year, Witt cited her engagement with youth and the creation of essential programming in the jail.

She pointed to the HOPE Hub, which stands for Helping Others by Providing Education. The program, a collaboration between the sheriff’s office and local nonprofits, provides education and training opportunities to jail detainees. It aims to prevent detainees from reentering the criminal justice system.

“I think it’s very important for law enforcement and community-based programs to work collaboratively because we can’t – we can’t – get better without those relationships,” she said.

Witt said she’s also proud of bringing the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program back to the sheriff’s office, which she feels is important in preventing youth from getting involved with drugs.

“There’s people who have different thoughts about the D.A.R.E. program, but this is what I know – I know that drug dealers don’t care how young their victims are,” she said. 

Looking forward, Witt said she’s in the process of hiring an administrator to help oversee the jail. A sheriff’s major currently oversees the jail alongside other responsibilities. Having someone solely focused on the jail will help, she said.

“The jail, for any sheriff, is the biggest liability for any sheriff’s office,” Witt said. “So, giving it the attention it needs has to be a thing.”

Witt said legislation was passed that allowed her to hire a new major and expand her community outreach and public affairs department. She said this area of her office doesn’t respond to calls, but instead focuses on building relationships with county residents.

“I understand the importance of making sure that we are always a part of the community – not just policing the community, but a part of the community, interacting and making sure people know that they’re safe,” Witt said. 

Staffing challenges, public safety priorities

Witt said the biggest challenge facing her office is staffing shortages, which have impacted other law enforcement agencies across Minnesota and the country. There are about 90 vacancies in the department. The office currently has 313 licensed deputy positions filled, but is budgeted for 362. For detention deputies who work in the jail, the office has filled 192 out of 226 positions. 

The jail has needed to cancel programming for detainees at times, including a writing program, because there isn’t enough staff to oversee its security, Witt said. 

Witt said the fact that her staff is based in downtown Minneapolis, and doesn’t receive reimbursement for parking could be a reason the office is facing staffing challenges. She said it’s one of her priorities that her staff is paid fairly and competitively.

Witt also said it’s important that the people she recruits care about the profession.

 “It’s just so difficult in this profession right now,” she said. “And so making sure that we have people that care has to be the number one way that we lead this profession.”

The issue is compounded by staffing issues at the Minneapolis Police Department, which works closely with the sheriff’s office and is also facing critical staffing shortages. The agencies’ partnership on initiatives such as a violent offender task force has been crucial, said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

“They literally are working with us on the street every day,” O’Hara said. 

Witt said the sheriff’s office also needs to focus on curbing the prevalence of fentanyl. She said her office confiscated enough of the drug in 2023 to kill everyone in the county. 

“The way that people are perpetrating that drug, and to know that it’s the deadliest drug that we’ve ever seen – it’s a very small amount to kill somebody – it has to be a priority,” she said. 

O’Hara said his officers also work with Witt’s office on tackling fentanyl and other drug issues. 

“I think of all of the leaders in the metro area,” he said, “she’s been the one to be at the forefront of trying to lead on fentanyl and trying to reduce the demand.” 

Witt said her office is also trying to address violent crimes among adults and juveniles, including vehicle thefts, gun violence, and domestic violence.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in the Sahan Journal.

It was written by Katrina Pross, a criminal justice reporter at Sahan Journal.