Crime

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David Greene
IDS Center
Posts: 4617
Joined: December 4th, 2012, 11:41 am

Re: Crime

Postby David Greene » June 29th, 2017, 10:46 am

I can tell you why the "feeling" on Hennepin Ave changed. All the bus routes that used to stop on Nicollet are now on Hennepin. A certain percentage of the population are going to be criminal or antisocial. If you increase the number of people on a street you increase the total criminal or antisocial acts.
Doesn't this kind of fly in the face of "more eyes on the street," close all skyways, etc.?

I don't think changing where buses run has any measurable affect on the kinds of "feeling" things this article discusses. And I do think some, maybe even most of the article raises important points. My wife and I have certainly experienced catcalls, and not just downtown. We don't linger downtown much so I can't say whether it's become worse.

On the other hand, we regularly experience loud drunk people walking down our street and litter in our front yard, so we're just used to seeing that sort of thing.

EOst
Capella Tower
Posts: 2424
Joined: March 19th, 2014, 8:05 pm
Location: Saint Paul

Re: Crime

Postby EOst » June 29th, 2017, 10:55 am

That might be fair, but I'd be shocked if a 200% (or whatever) rise in public urination and street harassment didn't lead to some corresponding rise in other crimes.

SurlyLHT
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1262
Joined: February 21st, 2017, 3:50 pm

Re: Crime

Postby SurlyLHT » June 30th, 2017, 6:09 am

It seems to me that it's worthwhile for the city to look into changing the built environment to deter crime. Place planters in doorways unused at night, unclutter sightlines when possible and make sure the area is lit more intensely than average by LED's. This won't stop catcalling, but it might help with some of the other alleged complaints.

grrdanko
Landmark Center
Posts: 229
Joined: December 21st, 2014, 3:14 pm
Location: Downtown

Re: Crime

Postby grrdanko » June 30th, 2017, 8:35 am

Crime rate is at a 50 year low.

I think it's funny that I hear from people how bad crime is now. My observation has always been that it's much safer now than when I was younger. In 2016 there 100 murders in Minnesota. For contrast there were 99 murders in the city of Minneapolis in 1995.

I don't know how many times I've heard people in their 30s say things like "when I was a kid it was safe, but now it's so dangerous that I can't let my kids outside by themselves". They look at me like I'm crazy when I say it was much more dangerous when you were a kid.




http://www.startribune.com/crime-across ... ection=%2F

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VacantLuxuries
Foshay Tower
Posts: 973
Joined: February 20th, 2015, 12:38 pm

Re: Crime

Postby VacantLuxuries » June 30th, 2017, 8:45 am

It reminds me of John Oliver's Daily Show segment where he sets out to find out when the "America of yesteryear" that O'Reilly, Beck, and Hannity are always crying about actually happened. And he concludes that because they thought everything was great in the past because they were children at the time and didn't know about everything that was going wrong.

BoredAgain
Union Depot
Posts: 321
Joined: July 3rd, 2014, 1:38 pm
Location: Lyndale Neighborhood

Re: Crime

Postby BoredAgain » June 30th, 2017, 9:00 am

Another piece in the City Pages.

http://www.citypages.com/news/17-years- ... /431539623

I'm mostly just confused why this is classified as "news" and not "opinion".

Silophant
Moderator
Posts: 4471
Joined: June 20th, 2012, 4:33 pm
Location: Whimsical NE

Re: Crime

Postby Silophant » June 30th, 2017, 9:15 am

Not for nothing is it called "Shitty Pages".
Joey Senkyr
[email protected]

xandrex
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1384
Joined: January 30th, 2013, 11:14 am

Re: Crime

Postby xandrex » June 30th, 2017, 11:17 am

CityPages, to my knowledge, doesn’t have any opinion section. They clump anything not related to their lifestyle coverage as “news.”

I’ve said this before, but I think I have to repeat it: If you don’t like what CityPages is doing, don’t click. At least in the past, people with Cory Z’s job have said online that a portion of their performance review is based on traffic that they drive to the website. So they’re going to put clicky things that you either undeniably agree with or absolutely piss you off. This story ticks both boxes with two separate audiences.

seanrichardryan
IDS Center
Posts: 4092
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 9:33 pm
Location: Merriam Park, St. Paul

Re: Crime

Postby seanrichardryan » July 1st, 2017, 5:34 am

Triple shooting in Uptown?
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

Tcmetro
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1768
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 8:02 pm
Location: Chicago (ex-Minneapolitan)

Re: Crime

Postby Tcmetro » July 7th, 2017, 1:15 pm

Downtown crime is nothing new, this kind of stuff has been happening for decades. Maybe it's just increased awareness of the issue since Warehouse District has added bars and restaurants that attract people who have varying levels of unfamiliarity of downtown which is compounded by alcohol consumption.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Crime

Postby Didier » July 9th, 2017, 1:09 pm

A guy at the end of the light rail car the other day was openly playing with his switchblade. Is that illegal?

QuietBlue
Target Field
Posts: 579
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 8:50 am

Re: Crime

Postby QuietBlue » July 10th, 2017, 8:37 am

If it's a true switchblade, yes, since they're completely illegal in MN. But there are other types of knives you can open one-handed that are legal to carry, though I don't know what MT's specific rules are about it.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Crime

Postby Didier » July 10th, 2017, 10:16 am

Perhaps switchblade is more of a relic from the Outsiders? But nonetheless there was a group of "youths" sitting at the end of the car, one of them continuously flipping out a knife and then pushing it back in. It didn't make greatest impression.

seanrichardryan
IDS Center
Posts: 4092
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 9:33 pm
Location: Merriam Park, St. Paul

Re: Crime

Postby seanrichardryan » February 25th, 2018, 7:22 am

Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

Anondson
IDS Center
Posts: 4646
Joined: July 21st, 2013, 8:57 pm
Location: Where West Minneapolis Once Was

Re: Crime

Postby Anondson » February 25th, 2018, 10:30 am

This was a good coverage of the history that I remember with today’s current evolution.

EOst
Capella Tower
Posts: 2424
Joined: March 19th, 2014, 8:05 pm
Location: Saint Paul

Re: Crime

Postby EOst » February 25th, 2018, 2:17 pm

Love it when articles are premised on conspiracy theories:
“We all know the statistics are unreliable,” says Joanne Kaufman, former Warehouse District Business Association executive director. “Bars don’t call the cops because they don’t want their insurance costs to rise. The police don’t make arrests. There are not no-arrest stats, to the best of my knowledge.”
If only it were the 80s and 90s again, when crime never happened in the Warehouse District:
“It was a very special time. It was happening,” says restaurateur Brenda Langton (she owns Spoonriver near the Guthrie), who operated Café Brenda with husband Tim Kane at First Avenue and Fourth Street from 1986 to 2009. “The area had a magical urban feel. It was authentic and uncontrived.”
Interesting how the extremely obvious subtext of these comments is never made text by the article, especially knowing the statistics on those "nuisance laws":
Mahoney is not a fan of the changes in downtown policing and criminal justice, which he sees as advantaging victimizers. “The definition of right and wrong has changed,” he says. “The nuisance laws gave police tools to make life difficult for predators. Now, ‘When will the cops intervene?’ is everyone’s question. You don’t really know. Crime is ratcheting up because there are no consequences. The cops won’t engage because there is no upside for them.”
Appreciate these comments by Chief Arradondo:
“But a lot of it is not criminal conduct,” he continues. “It’s a lack of civility and respect. That isn’t illegal. It’s not a police matter. Of course I understand that the workers and residents down there have to put up with it. But we were being hit with lawsuits that our policing was unconstitutional. Quick fixes [to deter civility offenses] hurt our community relations.
I think this section is really revealing:
The policy has a practical and aspirational side. “The jail has 33,000 admissions a year, at $132 a day in cost to taxpayers. And low-level offenders were mostly released in one to two days,” says Barnette. “We’re no longer keeping the trespasser or the open-bottle offender in jail. We’re keeping chronic offenders, bench warrants. The order was prompted because there was a lot of racial disparity in these low-level offenses. African-Americans represented 12 percent of the population and 53 percent of the police bookings.”

Also of note: 52 percent of the people in Hennepin County jail are suffering from chronic mental illness, says Arradondo.

R.T. Rybak, now president and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation, is well aware of the effects of racial disparities in the city, but he says he is concerned about replacing one injustice with another. “Overincarceration should not be confused with people’s right to a safe environment.”

Barnette emphasizes his empathy for those repeatedly exposed to aggressive incivility. “Do I want to walk down Hennepin Avenue and have someone say something to my wife? No,” he says. “But that’s not a crime. We’ve got to find other solutions than the jail for these people.”

schwinnletour
Metrodome
Posts: 68
Joined: July 27th, 2017, 9:36 am

Re: Crime

Postby schwinnletour » February 26th, 2018, 1:22 pm

Tonight at Pershing Park (3523 W. 48th St., Minneapolis), hot on the heals of the MPD not bothering to turn on their body cameras despite being instructed to

http://adimages.startribune.com/mcu/sta ... 475011473/

(not to mention the police department not having any systems in place to review body camera recording):

Palmisano Presents: An Intro to Chief Arradondo & Inspector Waite
Join us for an evening with Minneapolis Chief of Police Medaria Arradondo. Chief Arradondo has over 28 years of experience working within MPD and previously served as the Inspector to the 1st Precinct.
Joining Chief Arradondo will be Inspector Kathy Waite. Currently serving as the Inspector for 5th Precinct, Inspector Waite has over 24 years of experience with the MPD.
This will be an informal conversation, so please come with questions!

There should be plenty of questions from the community since they have allotted a hour for them.

I plan to attend.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Crime

Postby Didier » February 26th, 2018, 1:36 pm

Regarding EOst, I guess I don't understand the point of a post like that? Even if the statistics show that downtown crime isn't as bad as it seems or once was, clearly Hennepin Avenue is a problem.

mplsjaromir
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1138
Joined: June 1st, 2012, 8:03 am

Re: Crime

Postby mplsjaromir » February 26th, 2018, 1:54 pm

The article offers a great history of the area, very enlightening.

I think what it comes down and what the article showed that rich people want the area to be nicer. But those folks haven't grappled with the fact that the US is a low tax jurisdiction (25% of GDP and falling). If you want your stroll to your live theater performance to feel like Paris (47.9%), Brussels (47.9&), Copenhagen (50.8%) or heck even Toronto (39.8%) you're gonna have to give up the extremely favorable tax environment. Not to say that some US cities have created pockets of vitality that keep the ruffians in parity to those of greater means.

EOst
Capella Tower
Posts: 2424
Joined: March 19th, 2014, 8:05 pm
Location: Saint Paul

Re: Crime

Postby EOst » February 26th, 2018, 2:17 pm

Regarding EOst, I guess I don't understand the point of a post like that? Even if the statistics show that downtown crime isn't as bad as it seems or once was, clearly Hennepin Avenue is a problem.
Hennepin Ave can be problematic, but I am extremely suspicious of anyone trying to spin that into the narrative that we need more zero-tolerance policing, especially when 1) the statistics don't support the crisis narrative and 2) the solutions being discussed have very clear disparate impacts.


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