The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) recently announced its Safe City Initiative for 2006. This initiative is being launched in response to a city-wide increase in violent crime.
During the first three months of 2006 Minneapolis experienced a marked increase in violent crime. As of the end of March, homicides were even compared to 2005 (14 in each year), but they were up 16 percent when compared to the three-year norm of 12 homicides for the same period. Of these homicides seven appear to be drug-related (50 percent), four appear to involve gang members or gang activity (29 percent), two are domestics (14 percent), and one involved a robbery (1 percent).
Of particular note, eight of these homicides (or 57 percent) occurred in the 4th Precinct of North Minneapolis. In addition, aggravated assault was up 27 percent city-wide for the first three months of 2006 (116 in 2006 compared to 91 in 2005). Aggravated assault was up 29 percent in the 4th Precinct. Robbery was up 20 percent (527 in 2006 compared to 438 in 2005) city-wide with a striking 72 percent increase in the 4th Precinct. Nearly half of the robbery suspects are juveniles and many of them are repeat offenders.
These trends have led to increased fear of crime by local residents and business owners. It has also added to a perception of blight that deters neighborhood investment and attracts even more unwanted activity. The Safe City Initiative is designed to confront these crimes head on and significantly reduce their occurrence.
The Initiative’s goal is to reduce the number of homicides, shootings and robberies cit-wide from May 1 through at least August 31 with an emphasis on Northside homicides. The MPD hopes that funding will allow the Initiative to continue through the remainder of the year. Specific measures of success will be a reduction in the number of homicides, shootings and robberies when compared to the same period in 2005 and when compared to the preceding months.
Other Initiative goals include: An increase in police officer visibility and presence in high density and higher crime areas; improving the livability of the five most problematic neighborhoods in the city (Jordan, Hawthorne, McKinley, Phillips and Central); and increasing the perception of safety in the downtown areas of Block E, Hennepin Avenue and the Warehouse District.
Key Initiative strategies include: Incorporating input from the community and corporate partners into the final development of strategies to reduce violent crime; providing leadership and coordination to the MPD’s proactive units and other agencies assisting in this effort; leveraging the MPD’s limited resources by collaborating with other law enforcement and criminal justice partners; eliminating duplication of effort; establishing clear ownership and accountability for specific gangs and targeted geographic areas; developing specific strategies for preventing retaliation after homicides and aggravated assaults; and improving the documentation, maintenance and dissemination of intelligence.
In response to the increase in the number of juvenile suspects involved in robberies and other violent crime, the MPD will also recreate a Juvenile Unit. This unit will focus on the effective investigation and prosecution of crimes involving repeat juvenile offenders. In addition, they will coordinate city-wide strategies related to juveniles, work with probation officers to enforce conditions of release, and solicit input from judges on how to better manage juvenile crime.
MPD will implement this Initiative with the cooperation of numerous other law enforcement agencies including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Transit, Park, and University of Minnesota Police Departments, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, U.S. Marshall’s Service, FBI, DEA, Metro Gang Strike Force, Minnesota State Patrol,
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota Department of Corrections and Hennepin County Community Corrections (Probation & Parole). Each of these agencies will lend resources and assistance as appropriate.
While this is a city-wide initiative, there are several areas in North Minneapolis, and Camden in particular, that are scheduled for attention. In Camden, the McKinley neighborhood and the area around 36th and Penn (which includes parts of the Folwell and Cleveland neighborhoods) have been identified. Other Camden areas, including the upper Lyndale corridor from 43rd to 49th Avenues and the area around 52nd and Bryant have also been identified as potential areas of concern. Immediately to the south of Camden the Lowry Avenue corridor and the Hawthorne and Jordan neighborhoods are also targeted. The Initiative is ready to react to any shift in crime that happens as a result of the Lowry Avenue reconstruction project.
Specific enforcement strategies employed in these areas include increased “buy/bust details.” The MPD will coordinate additional buy/bust details to target individuals buying and selling narcotics or soliciting prostitution in these areas. These details will be coordinated with other Safe City units and agencies. The MPD will also conduct numerous saturation details which include warrant sweeps, gang suppression and documentation patrols, and probation visits. They will be conducted in partnership with other MPD units and enforcement agencies. Increased effort will be made to identify chronic offenders in these areas and impose geographic restrictions on them to remove them from the community. The Metro Gang Strike Force will also assist with gang intelligence and saturation details.
The Safe City Initiative is just one of several strategies being implemented by the MPD this summer. In cooperation with other agencies and with the businesses and residents of the city, the Minneapolis Police Department is reversing the trend of increasing violent crime in Minneapolis.