Update from the Mayor – July 1, 2005

July 1, 2005

News from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak

MINNEAPOLIS WILL NOT TOLERATE CRIME

Minneapolis faces few challenges as complex and challenging as violent crime. Yet nothing poses a greater threat to our quality of life. We must continue to work together as a community to express zero tolerance for crime of any kind, especially when a life is taken. This is not just about those most directly affected; it’s about all of us.

I am very concerned about the recent spike in violent crime and I want you to know that I take this threat seriously and am leading a targeted, forceful public safety strategy. This is my top priority.

Working closely with Police Chief McManus, I am implementing an aggressive, proactive plan that targets chronic criminals, focuses on known hot spots, and expands our resources and effectiveness through innovative partnerships. This is certainly about applying the full force of our police officers, but it is about much more.

We are deploying City resources much more efficiently.

Our newly formed Strategic Tactical Operations (STOP) division works to identify and respond to emerging crime hot spots. The citywide STOP team has assisted every police precinct on the north and south sides of town, including recently in Uptown. As a result of this more focused approach, we are getting more guns off our streets. We seized a record-high 96 guns in May and have seized 76 guns in June.

We are building new partnerships that leverage our resources and intensify our presence in key areas throughout the city.

Partnerships are critical because Minneapolis Police officers are just part of a larger public-safety team. In 2004, 70% of the people accused of murder in Minneapolis were repeat offenders on probation from county corrections, so I am engaging county and partners in an even more tightly coordinated effort to stop crime at its source.

This week I announced the creation of a partnership of numerous federal, state and regional agencies to support Minneapolis police with enhanced capacity to prevent and respond to violent crime. This Minneapolis Strategic Safety Partnership brings together a powerful coalition of law enforcement and community-based entities to uniquely employ the best practices from around the country to potentially become a public safety model for other cities.

We are reducing crime in downtown.

Our new Downtown Safe Zone initiative is working to increase downtown safety by partnering the Police Department with corporations, private security companies, County Sheriff’s deputies and Metro Transit Police. With the support of Target Corporation, we have installed 29 Safe Zone cameras covering 30 blocks. Through Safe Zone we have expanded our uniformed presence and improved response times. As a result, the most serious crimes downtown have declined 21% overall, assaults have declined 24%, and robberies have declined 50%. Our goal is a 100% reduction and we will not stop until everyone feels comfortable anywhere downtown.

Many people are working hard, but we need to do much, much more to get control of our crime situation. I know that if we work together and target our resources, we can continue to make progress and reduce serious crime in all parts of our city. Public safety is and will remain my top priority so that we can realize our goal of everyone feeling comfortable walking down any street in Minneapolis.