At a November 28 meeting held in Lowry Hill, government and community leaders offered glimmers of hope that things are moving in the right direction. While no one wanted to go on the record officially, it is clear that neighborhood and city crime are trending downward.
The meeting, spearheaded by Sue Westerman, chair of Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association’s Crime and Safety Committee, drew about 100 concerned neighbors to a private home in Lowry Hill.
The evening’s first speaker, Andy Luger, U.S. Attorney for Minnesota and one of Minnesota’s highest-ranking officials, stated that prosecuting violent crime is a top priority of his office. Taking office in March, 2022 for the second time, the first during the Obama administration, he is expanding capacity within his administration to prosecute violent crimes.
Now, every attorney on staff carries a caseload of violent crimes along with other federal crimes. In addition, Luger has expanded staff so that violent crimes like carjackings, shootings, and robbery are federal offenses and handled expeditiously.
Prosecuting these local crimes at the federal level carries harsh sentences, some up to 30 years. Luger’s office is communicating this message broadly through news conferences and Twitter, the latter intended to reach gang members, in the hopes of deterring crime.
Inspector Katie Blackwell, a 22-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department and commander of Minneapolis’ Fifth Precinct, described new strategies to anticipate, respond to and reduce crime. Along with staking out crime hot spots, enhanced collaboration with police from neighboring cities is one strategy proving helpful to identify repeat offenders of violent crime.
Blackwell’s most promising comments of the evening included strong praise for newly arrived Police Chief Brian O’Hara who joined the force in early November. After the past two years of tension and uncertainty around morale within the police department, Blackwell’s sentiments were hopeful.
With police staffing levels a few hundred short of the 900 police on staff in May, 2020, efforts remain steady to recruit new hires from throughout the state as well as nationally. A bright spot was mention of efforts to create a police-led youth sports league as a way to build positive relationships between police and youth.
Government alone can not solve the problem of rising crime. Three speakers gave evidence of private and grassroots approaches to improve public safety.
Lowry Hill resident Cam Winton championed a project called the Minneapolis Safety Initiative to raise private funds to cover the cost of police auto patrols in Lowry Hill. The patrols have been active since early 2022 and Winton reported the police presence is making a positive difference.
Not content to sit on the sidelines amid rising crime, North Loop resident Aileen Johnson organized a Neighborhood Safety Patrol for her neighborhood. The group has grown to 60 members who walk in shifts of small groups. Clad in recognizable bright orange tee shirts and matching hats, the group builds neighborhood connections, assists anyone in need, distributes flyers with resources to people experiencing homelessness, and aids out-of-towners, by providing directions and business recommendations.
Johnson believes her group is deterring crime. As word-of-mouth grows about the Neighborhood Safety Patrol, Johnson has now organized orange-shirted teams from new neighborhoods including Loring Park and East Isles.
As the evening wrapped up, host Sue Westerman reminded Lowry Hill residents to sign up for Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association’s “Know Your Neighbor,” an email and text communication system designed to disseminate facts quickly and accurately about serious crime in Lowry Hill. Currently 80% of Lowry Hill blocks are participating in this program. Residents can sign up at lhna@lowryhillneighborhood.org.
Are these changes making an impact? It will take time to tell. However, it’s evident that it takes collective action at all levels—government, neighborhood and individual—to drive change in public safety.
