March report: Introducing Inspector Fischer. State of the Precinct

Posted on March 29, 2026 | Leave a comment

The meeting was called together on March 9, shortly after 6:30.   We had attenders in person and by Zoom

Quast:  I am happy to report that both the 2nd Precinct and the U of M PD have new people leading.  

MPD Inspector Nick Torborg retired at the end of December.  Inspector Molly Fischer began working on Jan 18.

If you ‘ll recall, UMPD Chief Matt Clark retired May, 2025.  He has now been replaced by Chief Matt Davis whose first day was Jan. 12, 2026 [MN Daily story, see  “1”   at the end of this report]

I hope we will have a joint presentation to share their coordinated plans for keeping  Dinkytown and East Marcy Holmes safe and safely peaceful as we head into the party season.  Spring Jam is in  April but dates haven’t been announced yet. 

In 2024, Inspector Torborg and  Nick Juarez,  (then MPD-CPS, now U of MN Director of Community Engagement and DEI)  presented a new coordination agreement between the MPD and the UMPD. [see 2, below]

City Council Member Michael Rainville: I just came tonight to tell you how lucky we are that we have Inspector Molly Fischer.  I’ve known her for quite a while.   She’s a top-notch professional.   She’s going to serve the 2nd Pct. very, very well.  I will turn the floor over to our newest Inspector.

Inspector Fischer:   Thank you, Sir. 

My name is Molly Fischer. I am the new Inspector of the Second Precinct.  Inspector  Torborg retired  at the end of December, and I took over running the precinct on the 18th of January.  I heard from Emilie that people want to get to know me.  I’ll just give you a little bio of my history with the MPD here, and then I can look at the Crime Stats, and the public MSTAT meeting.  If you have any questions before I have to head out, we can cover that.

I started with the MPD in 2001, as a Community Service Officer. I had already had my four-year degree from the University of Minnesota. I spent my first year as a CSO, while going back to school and getting my law enforcement  degree, and then attended the Police Academy in 2002.

I spent a year answering 911 calls in the 5th Pct.   Next, I moved to the 4th Pct. and  handled 911 calls in North Minneapolis for another 10 years.  I absolutely loved working in that Precinct.  I truly believe that responding to 911 calls is the foundation of doing police work.  The 11 years I spent doing that were 11 fantastic years. 

In 2013, I was promoted to Sergeant and spent about seven months at the 3rd Precinct before they asked me to lead the Mounted Patrol unit. I ran the Mounted Patrol for just under five years. 

I was trying to say before that I’ve actually been in this room for a 2-PAC meeting.   When I was Sgt. of the Mounted Patrol, Inspector Kathy Waite asked me to come over here and introduce myself.   At that time, the Mounted Patrol unit was going through some struggles.  I spent some very long hours building up that particular unit.  We were invited to a national conference for Mounted Patrol units across the country to give a presentation on how we rebuilt.  

It was  fantastic to be able to be a police officer and a cowgirl all at the same time. I knew nothing about riding horses before I started on the unit. Before I was done, I was galloping in Ireland on vacation, going from house to house for a five  day trip on horseback. I absolutely appreciate everything I learned while I was on that unit.

I then transitioned to working in homicides, and did that for about a year and a half —  very challenging work.   

I was next promoted to Lieutenant and spent five years in the training division, where I ran the Police Academy and the FTO process.  That is the Field Training Officer Program, where officers go after they finish the academy.   In FTO, officers actually train in the field  [under supervision] before working on their own,  as solo officers.  

I then spent  a year and a half in 3rd Precinct as a Lieutenant,  working for Inspector Gomez.

Seven weeks ago, I transitioned to be the Inspector of the 2nd Precinct.  

1)  MN Daily introducing Chief Davis:    https://mndaily.com/campus/umn-announces-michael-a-davis-as-next-umpd-chief/12/09/2025/eicmndaily-com/      get tiny URL

2)   https://courtwatch2pac.com/2024/04/14/april-24-report-part-1-mpd-and-umpd-have-a-new-coordination-agreement/]

3)   https://courtwatch2pac.com/2016/03/23/march-2-pac-minutes/  Includes a fine example of Inspector Fisher keeping kids out of trouble.  EQ: The following May, she returned with the horses for the 2nd Precinct Open House.

—————————————

Question (recording unclear)  …homicide:

Inspector Fischer: One of my biggest concerns has been the uptick of homicides in the African American community. 

We need to have a much more comprehensive approach to homicides, beginning with how we engage folks and  children wherever we meet them:  schools,  parks, rec. centers, clinics, hospitals, wherever.   

 My concern is that we use homicide  as a “stand alone investigation”.     Homicide is a part of the continuum of violence, including violence in the homes. 

I did research on homicides and violence from1990 to 96, when I worked for the State Council on Black Minnesotans [https://mn.gov/cmah/resources/].    Before that, I did a comprehensive research  for MN Rep. ichard Jefferson [https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10277  see, 75th and 76th sessions]  We won a $200,000 grant for the first year, and $300,000 playing on  up until 2000 to do a comprehensive approach.

One of the problems I’m having is [recording unclear Homicide?] is not a continuum. The program was called the Martin McCain Nonviolent Institution Child Development Program.

Question:  About youth (ages 9 and up) unsupervised at night in Mpls., being murdered. The attender cited the story of a 9-year old alone,  who was murdered  about midnight.  There are other cases. Have the homicide units found areas where very young kids are out there, unsupervised? Do the Officers have an approach to parents of these kids? [EQ: similar questions deleted.] 

Inspector:  Those are all really good questions, sir.  I’m not sure what numbers you were seeing.   Our homicide rates are actually down.They have been going down steadily for the last couple of years.  We were down in 2024. We were down in 2025. Our numbers this year, compared to this time last year, are also down.  That is a positive thing.

Our Juvenile Division is very much involved in following up with youth who tend to get into dangerous situations.

If they have some sort of record, our Juvenile Unit is  following up with those youth, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.   They go to these people’s homes, talk with their families, check on the children, at the times when the children tend to get themselves into trouble.  Lieutenant O’Rourke from our juvenile division  started that program about a year and a half  ago.  We’ve seen some really good results, lowering the crime rate with juveniles

Comment:  Lieutenant O’Rourke just won a national award for his Juvenile program.  On Friday nights, about 9 PM  the Lt.’s team goes to the child’s house, and asks “Hi, where’s Michael?”   It’s been very, very effective.  He won a national award for his innovation and results. [See O’Rourke’s 2-PAC Presentation here  https://courtwatch2pac.com/2025/07/05/march-meeting-part-1-mpd-outreach-to-youth/]

Inspector Fischer:  Moving into crime statistics,  I did do the public MSTAT  meeting just two weeks ago. We did a comparison of  2024 to 2025. From   2024 to 2025,assault offenses went up slightly, by 1%. That’s not a significant amount.   And, we’re finding that most of that is actually reported domestic assaults.  This is actually a good thing if that means it’s no longer going unreported.  That’s where we’re actually seeing that uptick. 

We saw almost no change in burglary. Those numbers pretty much stayed the same at roughly about 300  in the 2nd Precinct.

Vandalism and Property Damage is where we really see our jump.   A lot of that is juveniles who  go on sprees.  They damage and steal vehicles.  In  the last couple of  weeks, that skyrocketed [unclear: which led to arrest]  last Friday. Those  tend to be groups of juveniles.  We’ve learned that juvenile groups have competitions, seeing who can steal the most cars.   That’s causing some of the uptick.

Also, some of the damage to motor vehicles is done by people actually trying to break into a car.  That crime is increasing the “damage to property” numbers.  We also have sprees where people (largely juveniles) are driving stolen cars up and down the street, with baseball bats and just breaking windows.   Starting last year,that definitely increased the “damage to motor vehicle” numbers. 

Homicides:  the 2nd Pct only had three homicides in 2024 and again 2025.   The numbers were down in Robbery , sex offenses, and carjackings.

Weapons law violations were up, which means we are  catching people in weapons  violations.  That is actually making arrests, so it’s  good to have that number going up.

Question:  The kids doing the damage to the cars, are they kids from the  second precinct? 

Inspector:  It’s kids from all over and they tend to go in between precincts. They might start in the 5th Precinct, and then make their way over here to the 2nd.  We  have implemented  a department-wide plan:  when we see two or three of these offenses happen in a short time, we do a rapid response, calling in any free car in the city.  The response “saturates the area” so we can try to catch the individuals in the act.   That has helped, but, like most things with crime, when criminals figure out what we are doing, they figure out what they can do to try to counteract us. 

When they have done 2 or 3 things in one precinct, they move to a different precinct.   Then we have to catch that something’s going on somewhere else, and move our resources to that area.   

The kids do come from all the precincts.   

I can’t talk about what our crime analysts are doing, but they are trying to break down the trends so we can see patterns of the cars being taken  from one spot and dumped in another.   

Question:  Do we get crime prints  back on that? And do they match with a particular group of  people?

Fischer:  We’re really trying to actually home in on this.  He then follows up with some of those juveniles. We are trying to make some of those connections. 

But, when you’re talking about vehicle thefts, cars are everywhere and on every street.  It’s hard to know where the next vehicle is going to be hit.  So we’re working it on the backside, that is when and where vehicles are recovered to see if we can tie them back to particular individuals from that area. 

Question:  What is our situation in regards to  suicides?

Fischer:  Suicide is not reported  with crime statistics. I can look into that and get back to you. 

 Question:  What about homelessness in winter?  What is the police response for that? 

Fischer: In Northeast, we don’t have too much of that problem. I just came from the 3rd Pct, where many people struggle with that.   Homelessness requires a coordinated response.  You can’t  police your way out of that one. 

There are many groups that go  to where homeless people hang out, offering services.  The actual number of people who actually accept assistance tends to be about 8% of the people contacted.  That’s a harder  problem to solve: that person needs to accept that help.

For example,  Metro Transit has its own team, the HAT [EQ: Metro Transit Mario Roberto describing Metro Transit’s Homeless Action Team  https://courtwatch2pac.com/2019/07/28/july-2-pac-transit-police/ ]

  THe MPD also has a team  to reach out to  the homeless. [EQ:

 https://mn.gov/cmah/resources/ ]

Comment:  This building [Monroe Village]  has been hit with a number of people [standing in the foyers, waiting to slip with a tenant. People  called 911, but officers replied they were busy doing other things.

Fischer:  You definitely need to call 911 if that’s what you’re if that’s what you’re seeing.  If you give me times or, or dates of things, I could definitely look things up for you and see why that was the response.  But call 911 if you see this happening, and obviously close the door behind you and don’t let people in.  

Comment:   Inspector, there are statistics up on the screen now. These are the ones that come from Emilie. Can you tell us what larceny theft is?

Fischer:  Larceny is taking something from someone intending to keep it.   

QUESTION: Can we get back to  the question of response time.  How is staffing working out in the 2nd Precinct?   Do you expect to have new people come on board? And I know, Inspector Torborg retired;  there was an entire  generation that stayed on a couple of years to help out the city. Now, a lot of them  are starting to retire. Can you speak to those issues? 

Inspector:  Yes: Staffing.  We lost roughly 40% of our department after 2020. For about two years, we just kept losing  people. Now,  we are losing people  at retirement age. Our hiring numbers are up however; the numbers are starting to level off again.

I did just get  seven new officers who passed their field training.  They are coming to the precinct.

There are more people who are going to be retiring, and a few new units are opening up across the MPD. Some officers are going to get pulled for that.  I would say that my numbers in  the precinct  for the next three  months are going to be what the numbers were at the end of last 2025: around 50 officers.

Question: Do we have  Reserve officers?  And how many and what are you using them for? 

Fischer: Reserve Officers get used for parades and  to  block  traffic for events.  We’ve had a reserve unit for as long as I have been in MPD.  It’s not a very large group, probably 20 people.  Some have been there for years, and some have actually been hired and become police officers. Some move on   to do other things because it’s a voluntary position, when they’re doing police reserve.  

Question: How do you coordinate with other systems and their police, or training of officers in other departments? (question for clarification)  Metro Transit. How do you coordinate?  Do you guys communicate well about what’s happening between all those buses?  Crimes that happen on buses or on rail platforms  that are Metro Transit property.  

Fischer:    When a bus is moving through the city, and something is happening on that bus,  if that’s something that needs to be immediately responded to, and they’re not close.MPD doesn’t wait for Metro Transit to respond to that.  MPD will respond to that. We can talk on the same audio channel and communicate with each other.  When Metro Transit gets there, they may take the case and do the report and follow through.  But it’s not as if those Police Depts.  are completely separate. If something happens in the City of Minneapolis, we will respond. 

The Inspector had to leave at this point.   She repeated that UMPD Chief Davis intends to attend the April meeting to discuss UMPD and MPD coordinate plans for Dinkytown-East Marcy Holmes area .

 Emilie Quast, Member

MPD 2d Precinct Advisory Council  (2-PAC)

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Feb Meeting report:  State of the Precinct, and attenders’ questions

Posted on February 20, 2026 | Leave a comment

This the Second Precinct Advisory Council Monthly meeting on  Feb. 9th, 2026.   Again we have had technical issues with Zoom, and the MPD Forensics team could not join the meeting.   I’ll be asking them to present at a future meeting.   

Fortunately, 2nd Precinct Lt. Hudok is here to talk to us about the State of the Precinct report, and about navigating the city streets if we see a confrontation or other unusual event.

STATE OF THE PRECINCT

NIBRS Crime Metrics  for MPD 2nd Precinct.  Reporting 28-days ending on Feb. 9 only

Crime                                                       2026               2025          3 yr. Ave.  
Assault                                                        98                    89                    73 
            Incl. Domestic                                   9                      7                      9
B&E                                                           151                    18                    25
Destruction/Property Vandalism               92                    58                    65
Homicide, non negligent                               0                       0                     
Homicide, negligent                                      0                       0                        
Larceny                                                     152                   151                149
MV Theft                                                   129                     44                  68
Robbery                                                        4                      10                 10
        Incl. Car Jacking                                   2                       3                    2
Sex Offenses                                              11                       7                    7
Stolen Property                                             0                       1                    1
Weapons Law Violation                                2                        7                   4  
Shots Fired                                                 13                      17                  16
Gun Wound Vics.                                          0                      17                   1     

I’ve  BOLDED the categories that seem out of line: Break and Entry, Destruction/Property Vandalism, Damage, Motor Vehicle Theft.

Lt.  Hudok: We’re finding a fair amount of damaged motor vehicles.   These may be attempted auto thefts:  somebody breaks the handle off  a vehicle but doesn’t  quite complete the theft.    That gets written up as damage to property or damage to auto, or attempted auto theft.  That’s part of the rise in numbers. I haven’t really seen much else in the way of other  damage to property incidents.  Not a theme  or anything  like that. I think the most common is attempted auto theft that doesn’t quite get accomplished, but there’s still some damage to the vehicle.

Also, within the last few days, we had a  rash of auto thefts throughout the day.  There was no real pattern to the locations, but they were happening throughout the entire precinct.  

Also, the same kind of suspects were  dumping stolen vehicles from other parts of the city in the 2nd Precinct  and taking vehicles. 

Quast: Could you backtrack on that one, please, and explain a little bit more?

Hudok:  Sure. Mostly Kias, Hyundais, things like that that were being taken.   They were arriving in a vehicle they’d already stolen, dumping that, then grabbing another one, leaving the first other stolen vehicle behind. 

We had a lot of that on Saturday from the early part of the day through the early part of the evening. 

Quast:  You mean they made it home for curfew? 

Hudok:  They must have.  But  that was an unusual uptick on that one particular day.   It still remains one of the higher offenses [in the 2nd Precinct].  It’s good that our higher incident offenses aren’t violent crimes.  But it’s unfortunate that
it’s still definitely a problem with the auto thefts, attempted auto thefts, car break-ins, things like that. 

Quast: Is this still the Kia boys? 

Hudok:  I’m not 100% certain.  I wouldn’t doubt it, but I don’t know if it’s a rash of juveniles that are engaging in it or if it’s some of the same juveniles.  The problem seems to move around the city. 

Quast: I’d like to know how to move around town safely.  I have friends in South Minneapolis, Little Earth.  We need to plan an activity over there with a Pre-K school and need to meet “somewhere”.  

So, what do I do if I’m driving over and  see a lot of activity going on? I don’t want to drive into it or draw attention to myself.  

Hudok:  I’m assuming you’re talking about the federal activity that’s going on in the city.

Quast:  Is  that what we call it now? Okay. 

Hudok: Well, it’s not us doing it; it’s the Federal Government.  When they have these operations, they tend to not stay long.   They do what they do, then they leave, and go to another location. They’re not really fixed in one spot for terribly long, at least as far as I’ve  noticed looking at the watch commander’s logs and things like that.  So, odds are,  they’re going to do what they do, and then they’re going to move on to some other location, or whatever they do afterwards. It depends on if they take somebody into custody or not.  If they don’t,  they’ll probably move on to another location to conduct some activity. 

It seems like they go in, do something, and then they’re pretty much gone within a few minutes —  you know, 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes, whatever, an hour.  So, wait them out. 

If you see something that’s going on and you’re not really sure what it is, and you don’t want get wrapped up in that.   You can just wait a safe distance away, and within a few minutes, it is probably going to be moving on to some other location.

Certainly people have the right to observe and express their opinions, but if you would rather just simply not be any part of it, then within a matter of a few minutes, it’ll probably move on to a different location, and the area would open up.

Question:  I’m part of Monicar, the group that is trained to do advocacy.   We stand in different groups and then we text each other.   We do see ICE, but rumor has it, is now ICE is hiding out, posing as electricians and whatever  inside of vehicles, and a lot of people just publicly are afraid to be out someplace like at their gym or bringing their kids someplace, where ICE is in a car pretending that they’re electricians or construction workers. Have you heard about this sort of activity? 

Hudok:  I haven’t seen that from any source within the Department.  I’ve seen online  that people believe that’s going on.   I haven’t  seen anything official on it. 

Question:   Were you aware that ICE was sitting in your [Precinct] parking lot last Saturday?

Hudok:  They popped up at a few different parking lots or park buildings, different parks and other city-owned spaces.  Again, they don’t seem to stay there terribly  long.  

They come in and then when people notice them, they go on to some other location. I know there have been reports of them using a lot of MPRB park space lately.

As I mentioned before, if you’re going somewhere and you see a bunch of activity, and you’re not  sure what it is,  generally, like I said, it’s not very long lasting.  If it’s not  something you want to involve yourself in, you can just wait it out.   They move on to another location quickly.  If it is something you want to observe and voice your opinion on that, that’s well within your prerogative. If you want to avoid it, it shouldn’t last terribly long based on what I’ve been seeing in our watch commander logs documentations.

Quast:   Thanks again to those of you who stayed for this part of the meeting.  We have got to get a Zoom maven in here, which will be my job for the coming weeks

Stay safe, everyone,

Emilie Quast,  Member

MPD Second Precinct Advisory Council (2-PAC)

1911 Central Ave NE

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Jan. ’26 Report: People News ; 42nd 10-Hour Buffet on 12/2 for First Responders – State of the Precinct – 2-PAC Moving ahead.

Posted on January 18, 2026 | Leave a comment

PEOPLE NEWS

You may have heard that 2nd Precinct Inspector Nick Torborg retired at the end of 2025.   Our Acting Inspector is  Troy Schoenberger  formerly MPD Second Precinct Lieutenant:  – Daywatch. 

Acting Inspector Schoenberger is staying on top of things as you might expect, so won’t be here tonight, but assured me that a person would be here to comment on State of the Precinct.   

The U of M just announced that UMPD has a new chief; Matt Clark retired last spring.    The new UMPD Chief is Michael A. Davis and his first official day is today, January 12.  We’ll invite him to PAC to tell us about his plans for the UMPD after he’s had a chance to get a bit settled.  In the meantime, I found his official biography:  https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/michael-davis-named-university-minnesota-assistant-vice-president-and-chief-police      I think you’ll be impressed when you read it. 

 The 2-PAC 42nd 10-Hour Buffet for First responders, recap: 

The 42nd 10-hour buffet saw a drop in attendance during the day but a surge in deliveries.  People signing in came from all 5 MPD Precincts, Mpls Fire Dept., the  Minneapolis Park Police, U of MN Police Dept and  Members of the Behavioral Crisis Response.   

Every year we deliver to staff who are not allowed to leave their work sites during a shift.    This year, deliveries went to  HCMC EMTs, Metro Transit, Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, and especially to 911 which saw a huge increase — they’ve added social workers to their staff as well as adding new hires.  Most deliveries went out twice on the 24th because there people work 10-hour overlapping shifts over the 24 hour day.

I’ve always been able to ask people about nut/dairy/gluten food restrictions, but this year, for the first time, I could also ask if people preferred Halal or vegetarian foods.    As it turns out, supervisors let me know how much THEY appreciated being able to offer Halal and vegetarian food to their crews.   

The Supervisors join me in thanking all the people who donate, who pick up donations and who deliver meals to the folks who can’t leave their stations during a shift.  

The 2-PAC Buffet’s long-term supporter, Jeff Meehan,  pulled a surprise.    He triggered a surge in  vegetarian and Halal donations.   I mentioned this to the first person I saw who had  an East African name on his name tag, and we walked down the line together to verify what was there.    He must have spread the word.   For the rest of the day, we had more people with East African names than I’ve ever seen before, coming in  and looking for the new donations..   The last person  requesting a special diet came in about 4 minutes before closing and said  she would take carryout back to her station.  People were waiting for it.   

A LOT of new people showed up to help with this event:   Meghann McLouth, John Larkey, Tony Kahn, and Sarah Ridens did their first soliciting and WELCOME ABOARD!  They brought  in a serious boatload of new dishes to share.  Thanks to Meghann and John, Aster Cafe, Brasa, Heather’s, Jefe Cocina, and the Nicollet Island Inn donated for the first time.  Tony Kahn  brought in Curry Corner, and  Sarah Ridens asked Flamin’ Thai to contribute. 

A couple more shout outs:     We also had a lot of new people on the floor making things work — and I’m really sorry I didn’t make it around the floor  to give you all a personal welcome.    I have to call out the warrior who spent hours on her feet, prepping for the deliveries:  she organized and labeled bags of plates and flatware to go along with the deliveries (counted to match the # of people expected at that site)  — Now I really wish I knew her name.   We’d never done that before  and it made things so SO. MUCH. BETTER!!  Thank you.   

Finally:  Jeff Meehan talked his reliable donors into upping the amounts of food they gave this year, and Jeff’s donors always send buffet favorites. THANK YOU Jeff for your hard work, including  hauling in 30 pounds of crustless chicken pot pie from L&B.   Did anyone know there is such a thing as vegetarian Hot-wings?   Now you know. 

We had a big drop in  attenders (only 115 signed  — down by at least 40), but  we delivered 299 meals, delivering to a lot of new hires, especially to the 911 office.   I have to assume that the 41 volunteers who made it happen, enjoyed this treat as well.     

 I’m calling  it 455 people served. 
Lost and Found  I have a full carton of Fresh Nap moist towelettes and a 26 oz bag of ‘Thank You Buttermints’  in my living room.  I’d like to get those back to where they belong so if they’re yours, let me know, please.  

STATE OF THE PRECINCT    chart

NIBRS  Crime Metrics  
Crime                                                       2026               2025         3 yr. Ave.  
Assault                                                       78                    65                    71 
            Incl. Domestic                                  0                      1                      1
B&E                                                            21                    24                    19
Vandalism                                                   47                    64                    67
Homicide                                                      0                       0                     1
Homicide, negligent                                     0                        0                        
Larceny                                                    148                    142                  145
MV Theft                                                    59                       51                   69
Robbery                                                      1                         9                      8
                Incl. Car Jacking                         0                        1                       1
Sex Offenses                                              3                         7                      6
Stolen Property                                           1                         0                      1
Weapons Law Violation                              5                         2                      3  
Shots Fired                                               16                       23                     18
Gun Wound Vics.                                       5                         2                       3     

Please note that this is a 28-Day report.   It covers two holidays so doesn’t seem to fit into the pattern we’ve seen in many months.    I’ll also relate that when an officer came in at about 4:30, I asked him where everyone was, because our headcount was lower than usual.   His answer was “On Traffic”.     That sounded like there were a lot of squads on the street which would have impacted our attendance. 

 Re-bolding  and Rebuilding 2-PAC

2-PAC: WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE ARE:  

2-PAC offers a place where Eastside residents and First Responders can come together to share their concerns and needs.   We welcome residents, business owners, and other stakeholders who are concerned about crime, livability issues, and other issues, to coordinate responses with our first Responders.   Our goals are to facilitate information exchange and to increase safety across the Precinct.   We offer a safe place for open conversation, where people can build mutual trust.

In addition to the 12/24 Buffet, 2-PAC holds a monthly meeting and has info and outreach tables at Open Streets in the Precinct and other events.   I’m hoping we will again have a Precinct Open House in May.  This year only Precincts 3, 4, and 5  held May Open House events, and I hope we can join them.  

Walking toward the future, together:  

2-PAC has not had a  Planning & Business  team since 2020 thanks to Covid.   Four of the most active board members moved away or got hit with a heavier workload.   

The team was a group of people who are interested in keeping the 2nd Precinct the safest place to live and work in the city.  Teams have been made up of residents (owners and renters), business people (owners and staff), professionals of all kinds.  Past presidents include someone who went on to work at the Met Council, medical and safety professionals, teachers, parents and friends.   Anyone who is interested in safety and friendship in the 2nd is wanted at 2-PAC.   I hope business and professional organizations will again send a member to 2-PAC.

There are many reasons to restart this effort:  more hands make light work,  more brains come up with brighter ideas; more experience makes better technology, but the bottom line is:

We need more people to bring their energy and ideas about creating a better 2-PAC. 

Being on a planning team is an extra 1+ hour meeting to add to your month, plus the time it takes you to complete whatever task you  are interested in doing for 2-PAC.  

But look at what you get back:  

  • safety, 
  • a stronger community, 
  • getting to know the good people near you,
  •  learning where to get help when you need it,
  •  finding resources you never knew you already have.

If you have an idea you’d like to share,  a safety issue you’d like to point to, a way of doing things differently, let’s start talking or get back to me — soon, I hope.   

Future meetings already on the list:  Meeting the new UMPD Chief and the new 2nd Precinct Inspector;  CSI Minneapolis (2 people from MPD Forensics introduced themselves on 12/24).  I’m getting advice on dealing with ICE from ALL of my City, State. and Federal Representatives  and I’m sure you are as well.  When we feel something needs discussion, 2-PAC will be a good place to discuss.   

**See Courtwatch2PAC.com  for past reports.  The Searchbox on the right side of the screen is very responsive to key terms.  Try entering   911   Youth    drones   Rainville

Emilie Quast, Member

MPD Second Precinct Advisory Council (2-PAC)

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Oct. Meeting, part 1: De-escalation: What is it? How does it keep us safe?

Posted on January 2, 2026 | Leave a comment

The Oct. ’25  2-PAC meeting was called to order at 6:37 PM.   The meeting is hybrid-Zoom: 7 in person, 7 on Zoom.  

Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  First Responders are on duty, but the Precinct is closed to the public.  We are at the Monroe Village Community Room, 1900 Central.   

Dinkytown has long drawn individuals who live outside the mainstream.   Covid and urban unrest made the situation more difficult for all of us.  The administrator of University Lutheran Church of Hope contacted me because he was increasingly concerned about safety on ULCH campus.  In addition to church members, ULCH is now home to high school students attending PEASE Academy. (https://mtcs.org/pease/)  Just locking the doors doesn’t do enough to keep vulnerable people safe — one student was confronted just outside of the building.   Some of the litter (needles, etc.)  is dangerous. 

 I started looking for someone to explain how to approach people who were acting in ways that endangered them and the rest of us.   When I reached out to Catholic Charities, I got a welcoming response, and we have Patrick Bayle here today.  

Bayle:  The first tool in the Catholic Charities tool kit is De-Escalation.  Catholic Charities’ Approach to Verbal De-Escalation is based on the Crisis Prevention Institute model.  

The first thing I want to say about verbal de-escalation is that, in any situation, safety is primary.   If you’re not comfortable with engaging with an individual, don’t engage. That’s very important. 

We’re not here to fix people.   We’re here to learn how to communicate with people who may be elevated, hijacked, or disturbed.  If somebody is in distress or aggressive, and you want to have a conversation with them, there are techniques that MAY help them to understand that you’re there to help, and that you want to be more comfortable with them. 

 If this is something that you’re not comfortable with, don’t engage.  That’s rule number one.   That’s what we train our skilled workers to do.  For the general public, we really emphasize, don’t engage.  

I’ve had a 16-year career in direct service case management with the individuals the Catholic Charities serves — those who are most in need. We serve the chronically homeless, severely persistently mentally ill, folks with substance use disorder.   We serve at 16 locations in the Twin Cities.  We have 19 programs, 545 employees. We’re a large organization. We house more folks each year, but we can’t keep up with the needs.  Often these folks are the most challenged in communicating their needs, so having skilled staff and volunteers is very important for what we do.  Here are some techniques that we use. 

AT WORK Somebody may become suddenly upset for no apparent reason.  If you respond, they may start challenging you,  like: “Who do you think you are?”   or “You can’t tell me what to do!”   They may get mad enough to start yelling at you or threaten to file a complaint.   You are on the receiving end of confrontational behavior.

Take a minute to think about a time when you felt distressed or challenged by somebody’s behavior and afterwards started thinking, “Well, I might have handled that a little better”.   Think about a time when your reaction affected the other person?

Comment: An attender related that she was at work when someone confronted her verbally, but aggressively.   She responded by listening to them.  

Bayle :  Listening is the key in verbal de-escalation. If you can, ignore the tone that someone is using and maybe even the language. The example that [Attender] gave:  She faced a couple who came to the door of the church where she works. They were immediately very aggressive to her. And she just listened to their needs. 

 I’m reinforcing that listening is a key part of verbal de-escalation.  Not responding but letting people vent is important.  Letting people express themselves sometimes is a very important  key. 

In the CRISIS PREVENTION INSTITUTE model, all behavior is a form of communication. 

Escalating behavior is the communication of increasing distress.  You can’t force an escalated person to do what you want, but you may be able to influence their behavior with your behavior.   Being calm and listening is one of the ways that you can influence their behavior.   

INTEGRATED EXPERIENCE: A Model from CPI

  • If the behavior is anxious, we are supportive. 
  • If the behavior is defensive, we are directive.
  • If the behavior is risky, we do safety interventions if it’s appropriate.
  • If somebody is self-harming, call 911.
  •  If the behavior level is building tension, we try to build rapport, trying to have a more civil conversation with an individual in everyday life. 

The integrated approach:   Think about an encounter. 

 Did you see the challenging person you were interacting with as in distress?  If not, how might your words and behavior have changed if you had seen them as “someone in distress”?   Having compassion for people while having safe boundaries is critical.

Question: What is Directive Behavior?  

Bayle: It depends on the situation, but 

  • At Work: a directive to a fellow staff person may be, “Would you like to step over here and have a conversation about this?”  You must make your expectations very clear! If you’re in a space where yelling isn’t appropriate, make sure they understand that.  
  • If the behavior is defensive, letting people vent and listening to them is sometimes useful.  Again, we’re not here to change people. We’re here to find ways to respond differently and peacefully to confrontational behavior that’s directed at us.   Important: If you can see that person in distress, do not take it personally.  The behavior is not about you, it’s about what THEY have going on. 

There are five simple strategies for verbal de-escalation. 

  1. A person who is escalating is not in control of their emotions, so keep your own emotions in check to the degree that you can. If your feelings are also out of control, you may make the situation worse. When your response is controlled and rational, it’s likely to have a positive influence on the other person’s behavior. 
  2. Sometimes, listening is key. 
  3. Don’t try to manage their behavior; manage your own.  Here or on Zoom, raise your hand if you like being told what to do, especially when you’re pissed off? Anybody? Nobody on Zoom? [No one likes it.] 
  4. Watch your body language.  Keep a safe distance.  Proximity: always respect an escalating individual’s personal space. We all know what six feet looks like now, right?  And a 45-degree angle is much better than facing someone directly.  You stand a proper distance away with a more open stance, and
  5. Keep your hands where they can see them.  Think: for someone who’s been living on the street for a long time, if you put your hands in your pockets, it’s an immediate warning It escalates. 

Summarizing: Keeping your voice and emotions in check, listening, holding a posture that isn’t threatening, keeping your hands visible, together can help de-escalate an individual. 

Again, none of these are solutions. These are techniques that are sometimes effective. And again: safety, safety, safety.    If an individual is out of control, get yourself to safety, call 911 and let the professionals handle it.

Watch your Paraverbals:  Paraverbals are how I say things  and what I say.  

Pay attention to the tone, volume and cadence of your voice. Speaking slower and more clearly may be useful to an individual who may be escalated. Volume, cadence, and effective directives are all things that are very helpful in confrontational conversations.  

Listening: Develop your ability to listen with compassion and empathy, instead of thinking about what you’re going to say next.  Nod your head to acknowledge that you’re hearing what’s being said.  

Give feedback that sounds involved: What can I do to help? Is there anything you need immediately? Is there an emergency that you’re experiencing?  Ask reflective questions.

If your paraverbals don’t match the words you’re saying, your message can be lost. If I engage with someone in an aggressive manner, they probably won’t remember my message.   What they’re going to remember is how I said it.

The last thing you want is more people coming into a situation like this. Remove the audience. 

 At Catholic Charities, we encourage a team approach. We ask our workers to tap somebody else in, not in a way to confront the individual, but to let them know that there’s somebody else there to be witness to what they’re saying and what we’re saying.

If there is space, take the person aside or ask a colleague to keep bystanders away. The more people in a conversation, the more confusing it can be.

Confronting a single person with two or three people is escalating; they feel their safety is endangered.   It’s best if one person takes the lead. If it’s safe, asking somebody  step out  to just have a conversation, is good.  

  When you’re dealing with individuals who are in distress or who may be experiencing the symptoms of their PTSD, their trauma, don’t ask “What’s wrong?”   Ask “What happened?  Asking “what’s wrong” is something that can trigger people.   Keep it simple.

DIRECTIVES

People who are agitated may have trouble listening carefully. People can’t hear you when they’re agitated.  Some only hear what’s going on in their own heads.  

Avoid jargon, complex instructions, and complicated choices. Give people ONLY one or two options. 

 Be clear, direct, and respectful with what you say. Dignity and respect at the heart of all of this. 

Always, no matter what behavior you witness, or what judgments your head may be having about the individual, all human beings have inherent DIGNITY. Honor it, no matter what you think of their behavior or their current situation. 

Their behavior is their behavior. Your behavior is your behavior.  Again, safety is paramount.

[Example of his defusing an incident  at a Quarry retailer, using his training and experience] 

So, these techniques work and that was almost instinctive for me. It wasn’t something I had to think about because I’ve used this over and over.

 You can form de-escalation groups to practice. Online groups offer scenarios to use with confrontation practice exercises. 

Again:

  • Be clear, direct and respectful.  
  • Use reflective questioning. 
  • Listen carefully and empathetically to the person’s real message. 
  • Make sure you understand the feelings behind the facts.

If somebody’s agitated, it might be okay to ask what happened. Allow them to explain and try repeating what you’ve heard back to the person to make sure that you’ve got it right. I found repeating what people say to me back to them helps me understand it much better.

Silence. Just listening. Silence can be uncomfortable, but it’s often an effective tool for de-escalating. After someone’s vented to you, don’t feel a need to add anything.  Just be there in the silence. 

Sometimes people just need you to be with them, not try to change them, not try to fix them, not try to manage them, but to be with them in an uncomfortable situation. 

One of the skills that people in our society lack, is the ability to sit in discomfort. We’ve been taught that nothing should be uncomfortable.

 Discomfort is oftentimes your friend if you can work with it and be in the silence with it. Sitting calmly in silence with someone can be a form of support.   Just be there with somebody. 

Important Safety Tips:

·         Practice self-care. 

·         Make sure your emotions are where they need to be. 

·         Don’t ever put yourself in the middle of a physical altercation.  When that occurs in the community or at work, call 9-1-1.

·         Having resources for people is important. Knowing at least one phone number to get resources is important.

·         Practice with each other.  Spend some time every week talking about strategies. Practice the tips and skills outlined. Use online training exercises.

Question:   How do you contact CPI to get this training? 

Bayle: You can’t.  An organization can. Our recertification cost every year is about $5,000.  We take this simplified form out into the community. 

The training that we do with the individuals at our sites is ]two sessions of three hours, a 6-hour training. 

What we introduce to the community is baseline skills, but we don’t want you intentionally stepping into these situations. People need to be trained to do it and to have experience and to have supervision after post-incident debriefs. 

Comment: Do you know if the BCR groups that work with the police have had this training? 

Bayle: I’ll guarantee you they’re highly skilled in verbal de-escalation. They’re not showing up without these skills. The BCR response teams that work for Ramsey County and Hennepin County are doing really good work. They’re doing a lot of interventions, too.

Quast: If anyone has a question they’d like Mr. Bayle to answer, contact me and I’ll forward them to him.

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Oct. Meeting, PART 2: What Is 2-PAC? Coming Soon and Looking ahead. We need your ideas!

Posted on January 2, 2026 | Leave a comment

2-PAC’S  ANNUAL 12/24 10- HOUR BUFFET IS ON! 

Once again, The Dec. 24  “2-PAC 10-Hour Buffet for ALL First Responders on Duty” will again be at the  Moose on Monroe (corner of Monroe and Spring Street)!    Owner Larry Ranallo already had it on his pocket calendar.

[Details here deleted]

We always want to see new people, so contact us, knowing you are welcome.

2-PAC: WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE ARE:  

2-PAC offers a place where Eastside residents and First Responders can come together to share their concerns and needs.   We welcome residents, business owners, and other stakeholders who are concerned about crime, livability issues, and more, to coordinate responses with our first Responders.   Our goals are to facilitate information exchange and to increase safety.   We offer a safe place for open conversation where people can build mutual trust.

Walking toward the future, together:  

2-PAC has not had a  planning board since 2020.  

There are many reasons to restart the board:  more hands make light work,  more brains come up with brighter ideas; more experience makes better technology, but the bottom line is:

we need more people to bring their energy and ideas about creating a better 2-PAC. 

Being on a planning board is an extra 1-2 hour meeting to add to your month, but look at what you get back:  

  • safety, 
  • a stronger community, 
  • getting to know the good people near you,
  •  learning where to get help when you need it,
  •  finding resources you never knew you already have.

FFI on any of these topics, contact emilieinmpls@gmail.com

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Dec, Meeting: Drones and the MPD – State of the Precinct – 12/24 10-Hour Buffet update

Posted on January 1, 2026 | Leave a comment

The meeting was called to order at 6:36, 17 people attending, 10 in person and 7 by Zoom.

Officer Todd Harder, our speaker, isn’t here yet, so  we’ll begin with

State of the Precinct

The last 28 days reports from the MPD Crime dashboard

NIBRS  Crime Metrics

Crime 
2025 2024   3 yr. Ave. Assault
104 89 82   Incl Domestic 15 5 9 B&E
25 21 20 Vandalism 42 120 76 Homicide
0 0 1 Homicide, Neg. 0 0 0 Larceny
138 177 158 MV Theft
34 71 77 Robbery
8 14 11    Incl Carjacking 1 4 4 Sex Offenses 4 10 6 Stolen Prop. 1 0 1 Weapons Law Vio. 5 4 6 Shots fired 17 23 20 Gun Wound Vics 1 1 2
Comment:   [about ICE in Minneapolis]
Inspector Torborg:  [responded to the observation and then moved on to reactions] I think some people are also hoping to provoke a confrontation between the police department and the ICE workers, which would never happen.  
It’s getting  frustrating; I hope that will quiet down.    Some people in the city aren’t fans of ICE.    That’s fine.   But it’s bogging us down  when we get one report after another. A few ICE members were trying to serve a warrant this morning and someone outside was blowing a whistle to alert other people there was an ICE raid, which wasn’t the case at all.We’ll do more messaging and we’ll see. 
Comment: Another question is: how do you handle the notion of under-reporting,  particularly things like robberies, getting a warrant for guns? 

Torborg: You mean in the immigrant community?   I read every robbery case; an investigator reads every robbery case.
Comment:  Well, We have a large Ecuadorian population in northeast Minneapolis, and I have a feeling they’re getting targeted 
because of communication difficulties and maybe their immigration status. They’re afraid to go to the police. 

Torborg:   I like to think that most of the time when somebody gets robbed, it will be reported. 

 I know with windows being broken out of cars, we’ve had so many crime sprees of  30, 40 car windows getting broken out.  People start to wonder what’s the point of even reporting this.  

We try to keep an accurate number because that’s how police resources are divided up.  If people stop calling in these things, they won’t get the police service they deserve.


 Question: Do you know who is committing these thefts?

Torborg: Yes.  We’ve arrested most of them, several times.   They’re juveniles, so they get taken to the Juvenile Division.  They get interviewed.They get processed. They get transferred to
 the Juvenile Detention Center, sometimes.  And then they’re usually released almost immediately and they come back the next day.

Question:  When they’re released, are they released to their parents? 

Torborg: Yeah, their parents are responsible. 

Question: Is there any recourse to hold the parents responsible?

Torborg: Not criminally.  Technically there could be civil liability.   I think it’s safe to say that many of the suspects come from a single parent home.  The parent has no financial means to
 pay back any of the victims. Some of them are very cooperative. Two weeks ago a mother of one of our frequent suspects, called Lt. O’Rourke [who leads the MPD  Outreach to Youth  program]
 and said, “I think my son is going around in a stolen car in Northeast somewhere.”   Just as the Lt. was letting me know, we started getting reports of a reckless driver. 

Comment recalling Lt. O’Rourke’s presentation at 2-PAC.   (EQ: See  https://courtwatch2pac.com/2025/07/05/march-meeting-part-1-mpd-outreach-to-youth/  )
[Conversation about the 10 Hour Buffet, here deleted]
Officer Harder on the MPD Drone Program 
I’m Officer Todd Harder. I’ve been in the Second Precinct for about four years, now.  I’ve been a police officer for almost 29 years.
 I got into the Drone Unit about a year and a half ago.   

We use drones for searching for anybody missing.  They’re a very useful tool for looking over the river for people who fell or jumped into the river.   We use an exterior drone for 
that work. [holding it up]   It has a thermal on it, too, so you can fly it in the dark to see a person hiding or if there’s a kid missing from somewhere.  We have 7 or 8 of these.  That is a 
mid-size drone.   We have one that’s three times as big.    

In a bigger city like Minneapolis, we need authorization to fly in some areas, like the airport. The drones won’t even take off in certain airspace zones.   
Question: Is that DJI?   [a Chinese mfg]

Harder: All of ours are DJI so far, but we’re going to get other brands.

This is an interior drone [holding it up]   We use them for search warrants.   The SWAT team will surround the house, breach the door, and before anyone goes in, we fly this through the house 
so we can tell the SWAT team where people are or just share the layout of the house.   It’s very beneficial to send in a tool, because if someone knocks the tool down, it’s no big deal — we can 
get another one. 
Comment: SWAT teams used to throw in a “flashbangs” before entering (a device that would surprise or stun nearby people)

Officer: We still use flashbangs too, but when we fly this one in, you can get a live feed so everyone can see what we’re seeing.  

Question:  How soon can you be ready to go when something is happening.

Officer:  If I had to launch this right now, 3 or maybe 4  minutes, because it’s interior.   I’d need authorization to launch the bigger one, but it’s still only a couple of minutes.
Question:  Does each precinct have its own drone teams?

Officer:  I think there are 13 of us on the team, and we’re spread throughout the city.  I think the 2nd Precinct has the most pilots. 
 We put in for it.   It’s a competitive selection process, based on application, interview, and experience. 

Question: Over the last year, how many interior observations have you done?   

Officer:  I’ve probably done 10, but every search warrant gets a drone; we’re going to a house with a  SWAT team.   It’s standard procedure.  

This morning, I was involved in a search warrant and we flew this unit inside the residence.  When we’re flying this one, we put goggles right over our face and use a controller. This interior drone has the VR system  and the exterior drone still has the screen, right on the controller.   So the exterior one, the screen is right on the controller still.  [talk about drill mark and DJI, unclear recording] 

There’s state law saying when we can and can’t fly them over your house. That’s illegal unless there’s a search warrant.*** 

Question:  How long do they go for?

Officer: It depends on how much the batteries get used. That interior one, probably 10 minutes flight time before you have to swap the battery. This one, probably 30 minutes. If you’re in an active search, you always have another up before the first one lands.  Then you swap the battery and keep rotating.

Question  So does that require more than one officer? 

Officer:  Whenever there’s a drone in there, you have to have two officers, to  keep an eye on the drone and to protect the person  who’s flying it.  We’re supposed to always be able to see them with our naked eye. Whenever we fly them, we have to have a visual observer. We can only fly them as far as you can see.  

When that big building burned in on Central, they called for us to come out there because it was so smoky, they couldn’t even get close enough to tell where the flames were coming from.   The drone flew up, and with the thermal sensor, pinpointed the hot spots.  Then the fire department went in and sprayed water. The next day, I went back after the flames were mostly knocked out, to tell them where there were still hot spots. 

 Quast:  That was excellent, thank you.

**  https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/22/fcc-drone-ban-dji-00703742  – https://pilotinstitute.com/drones/states/minnesota/

***  https://drone-laws.com/drone-laws-in-minnesota/

[More discussion about the 2-PAC 12/24 10-Hour buffet deleted]

Emilie Quast, Member

MPD Second Precinct Advisory Council (2-PAC)

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Nov. report: State of the Precinct, Outreach planing, Getting ready for 12/24 for First Responders

Posted on November 22, 2025 | Leave a comment

It is November 10, 2025. 2-PAC is meeting at 6:36, by ZOOM only, with 9 attenders.

Our  speaker had to cancel, but we have enough business to cover, so we actually need this time, starting with State of the Precinct,

STATE OF THE PRECINCT

NIBRS CRIME METRICS  28 DAY Total Ending 11/10/25 

Crime                      2025        2024      3 Yr Average                
Assault                       96            94                 87
     Incl. Domes.Ag.      9             12                  9
B&E                            32            25                23
Vandalism                  87            105               91    
Homicide non neg.       1               0                 0
Homicide negligent       0               0                 0
Larceny                     185           227            199
MV theft                     117            95               99
Robbery                        7             17              20
       Incl.car jacking       1              1                 4
Sex offenses                  7           13                 8
Stolen property              5             4                  9
Weapons law viols.        5             4                 9 
Shots fired                    23           34              28
Gun wound victims        3              7                3

InspectorTorborg:  First of all, the number of gun wound victims is going to go up by 3.  Last Friday, we had a shooting in Dinkytown at 13th Ave &  5th St. SE.     It’s an active investigation, so I can’t share a lot, except that it appears to be a targeted shooting. One of the victims was likely an innocent bystander who happened to be passing. That was the U of M student who was hit in the leg.    [Investigators collected] about 20 rounds fired by more than one automatic handgun. 

Also, there are officers half a block from where the shots were fired, so the shooters weren’t deterred by the presence of police officers.  

Quast:  The UMPD Safety Center:  https://campusmaps.umn.edu/off-campus-safety-center.   FFI see the introduction of the Safety Center, 

Sept. ’24 by Nick Juarez, Director of U of MN Community Engagement.  https://courtwatch2pac.com/2024/09/23/sept-rept-part-1-new-safety-center-and-more-in-dinkytown-and-east-marcy-holmes/

Follow-up question from a new attender:  I’m assuming  this info review is something you do at all of these meetings.  How is this information getting out to the community?    [The Inspector’s Zoom connection froze at this point]

Quast:  I pull it up every month from the MPD Crime Dashboard, which is open to the public. The reports are kept  on Courtwatch2PAC.com    Presentation on the Dashboard  [https://courtwatch2pac.com/2023/07/10/june-2-pac-the-new-mpd-crime-dashboard-explained-and-12-year-old-crashing-a-stolen-car-reactions/#respond ].  Since that presentation is up on this one website, you’ve got it.   It’s yours. 

But the question is how do we share this information with the community and so on.  

How we got here:  The Precinct Advisory Council program was started by Judge Lois Conroy, some  20+ years ago. The City of Minneapolis had grant money  city improvements.  Neighborhoods had to form  organizations and submit requests for approval, like any other grant-writing exercise.  The city wanted residents to decide how to distribute the money [subject to scrutiny].  

Each neighborhood organization had a safety supervisor or officer, who reported TO the precinct once a month at a Precinct Advisory Council meeting to relay issues in their neighborhood.  They’d also get direct information on what was happening  in their neighborhood FROM the Inspector and other officers (HCSO, MFD) who were attending. That was the strength. 

[Inspector Torborg reconnected]  Quast:  Nick, I’ve explained the format of the PACs and that it is supposed to be a two-way communication: the neighborhoods reported what was going on in their neighborhoods to alert the Precincts, and the cops and others advised those neighbors what they could do about it. They’d also advise delegates about part 1 crimes and what they could do about that.   Then the delegates would take that information back to the neighborhood and present it at the neighborhood council. It was definitely a two-way: Here’s what’s going on, what can we do about it?  Answer:  Well, here’s three things you can do about it and call this number.  That was generally about the way it went. Could we have called each other directly? Yes, but this communication schema was  much, much better.

Torborg: [reviewed the above to make sure we’ve covered what he wanted]

Comment from attender:  I was wondering how does 2-PAC share the information? 

[Quast:  at this point, attenders started brainstorming ideas for sharing 2-PAC info. Suggestions included working with the Northeaster, City Council members’ newsletters, and starting a social media page like Facebook.]

The Inspector reported a conversation with a Northeaster reporter, Mike Tierney, who mentioned  putting notices in the paper,   Torborg agreed that would be a good community connection.   The MPD wants residents to know that we’re interested in hearing from people in the community. 

 Torborg further commented:  We share tips with the public often.  We send out crime alerts to neighborhoods that are getting hit really hard, but that’s after the horses have left the barn.  I don’t know how effective it is to to tell everybody in the neighborhood to  watch their cars at night because we had 70 auto break-ins in the neighborhood last night.

Bonneville [re: working with the Northeaster]  Maybe they need it packaged for them, making reporters’ jobs easier.    Having been a reporter years ago, I know the more you can package it up the better.

If we get information from the MPD related to Second Precinct, we could work with the Northeaster as residents who want to see this type of information.  But you’re right:  neighborhood papers don’t cover much crime.

Quast:  We’ve talked in the past about reaching more residents through social media, but no one had time [and know-how]  to pick that idea up.  How about a 2-PACcommunications subcommittee?

Bonneville: Also, there’s the new 13-hour dashboard,  which a lot of people apparently don’t know about. Recently, law enforcement agencies began encrypting their radios. People didn’t like that. The compromise, in my understanding, is this 13-hour dashboard.  You can go online and select the whole city or your neighborhood or your precinct or whatever. It will show you a list of all the reported crimes [in the area you selected] that are going on almost in real time. It reports MFD. MFD and BCR   [EQ search: 911 and Emergency Communications Center Incidents Dashboard]

Torborg:  Sometimes Crime Watch was good because it did give real-time info, but it also caused a lot of headaches for the MPD.  People would hear first reports on the radio, and not really understand them, but put them out as facts anyway.  Officers would respond to the scene and find the call was unfounded — maybe a “shots fired” or nothing at all. 

Quast:  If the people in this conversation will connect and continue to talk off line, we’ll come back in December and you can tell us how far you’ve shaped this up. [I should have added, feel free to add others who you think will add to the conversation]  

2-PAC’s 10-HOUR BUFFET ON 12/24/25

Our 42nd, 10-hour buffet IS ON!

Briefly, I believe the buffet started out as a neighborhood event, just for  the 2nd Precinct,  brought  by near neighbors:   One 12/24, neighbors noticed the Precinct lights were on and people were working there.  Somebody said  “This isn’t right”  so neighbors started cooking good meals, and here we are! 

The parameters:  

Who is invited:  The event is open to all First Responders who are on duty on that day. 

We send out notices to all five precincts, all Fire Stations, Metro Transit PD, UMPD, HCSO and  a few others.   Anyone who can be dispatched to an emergency call, is welcome.  

Our stats from 2024: 197 altogether.

131 people signed in and stayed as long as they wanted. Signers were from Pct 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,  Canopy Roots, MFD Stations(?) E15, 14, 20, 7, 2, 19, HEMS, UMPD, MPRB, and those are the only ones I can decipher.  We sent food for 66 “shut-ins”.   We contributed to meals sent to the HCSO.

First Responders cover the day in overlapping 10-hour shifts.  This puts more officers on the street during high traffic times, so it’s very efficient, and we get double guests at certain times of the day. Other times, our space is empty.  (That’s when we  head out to make deliveries)       

Shut-ins: Some first responders can’t leave their stations while on duty — the “Shut-Ins”.  Included are 911 operators, of course, but also the guards at the doors of some emergency services.   (We make up meals for the guards so they don’t have to run to a  distant break room to get a nice meal.)   Metro Transit First Responders are shut-ins because their stations are far from our buffet.   The solution (suggested by them) is to deliver enough for everyone to the Mpls Station and they take care of sharing the bounty.   Shut-Ins  get two deliveries. 

We learned that our host at the Moose on Monroe, Larry Ranallo, had been delivering two meals to First Responders in the Sheriff’s Office.   We’ve contributed to that since we found out about it.  

DONATIONS:

Important:  we ONLY solicit donations from people and businesses IN THE SECOND PRECINCT.    Be aware that this includes Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis — everything east of the Mississippi.  The reasons for this are historical and  practical; it cuts down travel time.   

TIMELINE:

A few volunteers  don’t have an OFF switch.   When they try a new restaurant and like it, they’ll ask if the owner would like to contribute to a goodwill December event.   They’ll mention it once or twice and then firm up the donation about this time of year.   

WHAT FOODS WE NEED DONATED

I keep a spreadsheet of donations.  If something is too much of a duplicate, I’ll talk to the donor for you and see what they can change.    

We learned that the officers wanted  (needed) substantial food:  entrees, appetizers and more, to keep them fueled for a 10-hour shift.  

Four guidelines:  

  • 1) Donated food must be reheated by the Moose staff and held in chafing dishes over the day.  Pizza or other quick foods don’t wait well on buffet lines.  We do NOT reheat in microwaves.
  • 2)  Hold down offers of sweets and desserts.  (People send a LOT of that directly to the stations.)  Exception is Sarah Jane’s cookies, a 3-generation NE tradition.  
  • 3)  ASK donors how many roasters or half roasters we can expect so Moose staff can plan their refrigerator and working spaces.  
  • 4) ALSO!!   Ask what pickup window will work for that donor. Some places close on the 22nd or 23rd, and some don’t want a pick up until late on the 24th.   We need drivers for all of that.

HOW THE FOOD and SERVICE ARE HANDLED 

Volunteers pick up the donations on a schedule — Emilie keeps the spreadsheet.  Make sure all dishes are labeled: DONOR,  NAME OF Contents, Heating instructions,  “2-PAC” IN  LARGE LETTERS  and use a marker not a post-it.  

Mr. Ranallo and the Moose staff meet with Emilie mid December — I need donation estimates for that meeting to estimate shelf space needed.   Anybody else is welcome to join us.  

Moose staff figures out how to arrange lockers and chillers and  we respect that.    They prep the food on a schedule and make sure all food safety laws are observed (scheduled temp. checks, etc.).    

The 12/24  signup sheet is organized by 2-hour shifts    2-PAC volunteers set up and decorate the Moose dining room (arrive 9:30 AM), then welcome our guests.  We need multiple volunteers for each shift (hosts, drivers, runners) 

Hosts ask guests to sign in, usher them over to the serving tables and give a hand if they need another dish or drop something.    When guests leave, we check the table and do a quick wipe down and straighten up so everything is fresh for the next guests.     

You’ll find that most of our guests come  4, 6, 8 at a time so they can eat with friends and colleagues.      EQ: they still have to sign in though.  

This info will be posted for volunteers at the Moose.

I’ve already gotten a few good suggestions from previous volunteers to improve the event.   Do keep them coming and know they’re appreciated.

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Sept. 8 meeting, Part 1: Steps toward a safe city: Neighborhood Safety Clubs

Posted on September 25, 2025 | Leave a comment

We have  7 attenders in person and 5 by Zoom.  Call to order at 6:37

Speaking to the 8/13 Northeaster, Aileen Johnson  stated, “. . .[T]he groups are a true grassroots effort to reduce crime with a friendly presence on city streets.”   These clubs exist right now in 24 neighborhoods across Minneapolis.   We are self-funded volunteers who have lots of different interests, opinions, and views, but we agree on one thing:   It is neighbors,  business,  and law enforcement,  all working together in a spirit of friendship, that makes for a safer community. 

We welcome everyone who has that belief.  We believe that one person can make a difference and that everyone should try.  We’re committed to the same objectives: 

  •  to improve safety,
  •  to build friendships,  and
  •  to increase our civic and municipal acumen. 

We started in the North Loop in April, 2021. There was an encampment with two drug markets serving them.  My friend called me and said, “What can we do?” I called a friend,  Mike Rainville and asked him.   Mike said,  “Try to get out there and walk”.   It made a difference.

After the 4th of July fireworks  and violence in the Mill District, they contacted us and we were  walking 3 weeks later.  

Next someone asked for help with drugs and guns in Loring Park.  Today, Loring Park, which once had the highest park-crime rate  in the city,  isn’t even in the list of 10 top crime incident parks.

EQ comment:  the video shows slides of the people she is talking about.   Pictured and discussed are 

  • Windom (which still concludes their walks with tea and cookies), 
  • East Isles focuses on picking up needles with MFD donated gear, 
  • Kenwood spends 90 minutes to cover the entire  neighborhood, 
  • Thomas Beach was supposed to cover all of Linden Hills, but a neighbor objected to MPD, so we focused on Thomas Beach, which had a calm July 4.  
  • Nicollet Island East Bank was the first safety club in the 2nd Pct.   That club is actually sponsoring Pumpkinpalooza on the 5th of October for Halloween. 
  • Sheridan is our newest club in the 2nd. They’re walking and rolling Wednesday nights.  
  • Three groups:  Loring Park, Stevens Square, and Loring Heights are helping each other, adding walkers when one or another group wants to swell the group.
  • East Harriet is based in an assisted living complex which is where they start and stop their walks. 
  • Ward 13 has six Neighborhood Safety Clubs.  They rotate walking  the neighborhoods — that way they cover the entire 13th ward.
  • Kingfield, St. Anthony West and St. Anthony East have launched. 

This summer, the Uptown Business District wanted to hire us.  We don’t work for pay, but  we’ll bring groups in to do a special walk for them.

We are doers.  We know we can’t solve large problems, but we know that picking up trash improves an area.   If you see  blue painters’ tape on a street light, that’s a sign we  did a project to get the lights turned  back on.

Access Denial:  In Loring Park, a guy was selling drugs from his apt.   We set up our bright tent across from his building to create “access denial”.  We’ve done that other places, sometimes with Mad Dads. 

The most fun thing we’ve ever done, was to be in the alley outside of SexWorld, at closing time. Nothing makes a young man run faster than seeing women of a certain age handing out safety literature.  We had a ball and it worked.  They’re closed in Mpls.

Service Work:   

The squad car memorial for Officer Jamal Mitchell was staffed 24 hours/day for 13 days with our help. 

We’re  sending 40 volunteers to help with the Battle of the Badges dinner. 

In the North Loop by the Rabbit Hole, we assisted people out of their Uber Lyfts, and got them to use the crosswalk. 

In the 1st Precinct, we passed out info  at Inspector Peterson’s and Chief O’Hara’s requests.   

We do open houses at Precincts and have done potlucks and BBQs.

We’ve done a Personal Safety workshop here in the 2nd Pct.

We do cookies at the MPD graduations and ceremonies.  

QQ: How often do people try to walk through the neighborhoods? 

Johnson: It  depends weekly, twice weekly or once a month   Even a once-monthly walk exposes the neighbors to each other. You are seen out there, in your orange shirts, walking together.  Then you learn about the other events that are open to  safety clubs.  

Our only  requirement is that you believe that neighbors and business and law enforcement together stand for a safer community.   If you have a quarrel with any of that, we will still urge you to walk in your neighborhood, but believe our network is not a good fit for you.

Comment: it sounds like you start the group, but they have a lot to organize.

Johnson:  They do. I do the overall things like getting people the t-shirts, getting them invited to all the events.  Then the neighborhood itself needs to schedule  the walks and communicate at that level.  

QQ: Do you have safety concerns? 

Johnson:  We do training with the precincts, quarterly.  We’ve had enough training so we would never go into a scenario alone and try to do something.  We call 911 if we need to. We’ve seen that if we’re standing around in our orange shirts and  watching, it shoos people away.

The Loring Park Lt. gave us a lot of coaching when we were across from a drug house. He said if they come out and start yelling at you, evacuate. When people were scaring Lotus patrons, we told the Lt. that  we can’t do this on our own, and asked him to have Mad Dads there.   Mad Dads  came the next week and it was a whole different world. So we don’t worry too much about it. We do what we can. We feel  fairly confident but not in a foolhardy way.

The 2nd Pct is a different ballgame. It’s mostly prevention. Presenting a strong community presence can be very discouraging to  people who are trying to do harm.   You operate on the idea if you are paying attention to your neighborhood you’re safer.   Sheridan started because they wanted to get in front of it.  That’s been a really good model.  

Some people will think if they don’t have 25 people it’s not worthwhile but that’s that’s not true.  We don’t believe we can solve large problems. But we think that we make a difference solving smaller problems. 

An abandoned building was set afire many times; squatters were going in, constantly. We did what we could there.   It’s up to the city to solve the squatting problem, but  we can help with the building. We walked around the building, picked up  litter, kept our eyes on it.   We kept the pressure on Lisa Goodman until the city(?) secured the building. We kept up the trash pickup, because there were still people living outside.They would leave every day and we kept up the trash pickup.

QQ: .How many hours do people walk? 

Johnson: Some groups like to go longer, but 90 minutes tends to be a really nice time.

Q: is there a common time? 

Johnson: No. We started the North Loop at 5 a.m. on weekends. Mill District is afternoons. North Loop is early evening. It just depends on what the group wants. Kingfield’s walking at 6 a.m. on Monday mornings.

The thing is: almost every group picks up litter. We’re not vigilantes and  we make that clear.  We’re trying to grow strong friendships and report street lights that are out.

QQ How do you start?

Johnson:  People ask me and I and tell them what it’s all about. Then they  find like 4 or 5 five friends. Next we get coaching and I walk with them a couple of times.  Then I  pull back. 

Summary:  It’s easy to start.  We don’t allow people who want to carry guns. We are kind to each other. If we have a problem person, we remove that person. 

QQ: Do you go to neighborhood meetings?

Johnson: Only if they ask us.We really like word of mouth.  We’re walking in 24 neighborhoods right  now. We grow organically and we prefer that.  We don’t force any growth. But, if you invite me, I go.  Then if people want to join, I’ll get an email or something a few days later.

QQ Do you have any church related groups? 

Johnson: We can do a group for a church itself if they just want their own members and they don’t want to be part of the neighborhood.

Comment:  Dinkytown is part of the University District where Emilie and I live.  It’s largely students and  a few early career professionals — very few seniors.  Looking at photos of your groups — these are folks who’ve been around for a while and who care about their neighborhood.  What are your suggestions for neighborhoods like the University District where there just aren’t many people who look like us?

Johnson:  We had hoped  the parents of the students who asked us to form this would dedicate this time and that their children  would walk with them.   We weren’t surprised when the children weren’t showing up, But we were surprised when the parents weren’t.

We might make it if we go through the Greek system to get them community service credit for that work.

Our most committed people generally have lived in the neighborhood for quite a long time.  It’s antithetical because our clubs are actually needed out there in Dinkytown  at 10PM or later.  We haven’t got the answer to that one.  

Comment: About Dinkytown:  for a short time, some of the Somali elders from Cedar-Riverside were walking  Dinkytown.   Is that still happening?  

Response:  I think they’re mostly at Stone Arch now but they do go into Dinkytown as well.  We were told in March that the U of M and MPD were working on a contract with them for this summer, but the contract wasn’t signed until last week. I believe the funding was taken over by the Office of Community Safety. The Somali mothers are going to be at the  Stone Arch Bridge and in Dinkytown.   Then the Park Board has another group of culturally specific outreach workers they contract with.  That group has been at the Stone Arch and Father Hennepin Park area. 

See STATE OF THE PRECINCT, part 2 of 9/25 meeting.

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Sept. 8 Meeting, Part 2: STATE OF THE PRECINCT

Posted on September 25, 2025 | Leave a comment

STATE OF THE PRECINCT

NIBRS 28 Crime  Report.

Crime                          2025        2024      3 Yr Ave.                
Assault                            83            77         80
     Incl. Domestic Ag        8               8           8
B&E                                25             26         27
Vandalism                     122             87        78
Homicide non neg.           0             0            1
Homicide negligent          0             0
Larceny                        184         171         192
Robbery                           8           12            11
       Incl.car jacking          1             3             3
Sex offenses                    0             1             1
Weapons law violations.  2             1             5
Shots fired                      29          22            27
Gun wound victims           4            2             2

Inspector Torborg:  Assaults are up for the last 28 days but they’re still down compared to last year — year to date they’re down about 50. 

The destruction and vandalism is primarily kids going around breaking windows out of cars and stealing from the cars.  That’s  slowed down a little bit.   We’ve made progress and identified some suspects, but it’s painstakingly  slow.   Over the past weekend, we did not have anything of the scale we’ve had in the past so we’re getting there.

If you look at a crime map of damage to autos year to date, there are hundreds of them in some neighborhoods.  The boldness, of course, is frustrating; equally frustrating is that when we find them, they’re not held accountable.  

QQ: You said you have some suspects.  Have any arrests been made?

Torborg:  City-wide incidents, about five different suspects.  They get arrested and charged.  Some just get charged by a complaint.  Then it’s up to the Juvenile Court system to deal with them or not.

We’ve had some success with some of the damage to autos.  We called crime scene people out to process the cars if we thought there was any chance of getting fingerprints.  Sure enough, they were able to lift some prints off the vehicles that were damaged and identify some suspects!  

That’s helpful because if we get a group of kids going out on the street damaging cars, how do we prove that the suspect we grabbed actually was taking part in damaging the cars?   Well, when their fingerprints are found inside the car that’s pretty good.

Today we had a known auto thief crash a stolen car by a park.  Thanks to good witnesses we were able to track him and take him into custody.  It turns out he’s a prolific car thief, especially in the 5th Pct. Now he’s  in, and he’s not a juvenile anymore so he got sent to the adult jail for at least 36 hours. 

QQ: Are minors that end up in the juvenile court system detained?

Torborg:  They get assigned to their parents.  I heard a public information story at a meeting last week. In either the 3rd or the 5th Pct, two kids were arrested in stolen cars.  The kids know the officers and talked to them. They said they love stealing cars.   It’s what they did for fun and they would keep doing it.   In this case they’re openly admitting they were going to continue stealing cars.   Both were released an hour later.  

The next day, the same kids were arrested, same story, went to JDC and released an hour later.  The next night they got a stolen car again, but one wasn’t going with the program at JDC so he actually stayed for a while.  The other was released an hour later.  

I don’t think there’s been media coverage.   Some people claim they don’t have enough secure beds to hold the violent juvenile offenders, and others claim that stealing cars isn’t a crime of violence.      I (Torborg) would argue otherwise because the cars are used as a tool for other crimes of violence.  [discussion of who pays for the repairs?  Owner’s deductible, or insurance coverage or the parents of the minor?]

QQ: Porch pirates seem to be popping up again. Do they fall into the larceny category?  My other question: MPD  calls for service overall down.  The concern some of us have is that people are not calling in when crime is too bad.  

Torborg: You mean you’re wondering if in some parts of the city, they’ve been victims of damaged properties so often that they don’t even bother to report it anymore?   [EQ: the directive is “Call It In, Every Time]

My property crimes lieutenant  didn’t give me the numbers but we had a rash of catalytic converter thefts deaths again.  The 2nd PCT didn’t get hit that hard at first, but now there’s been a bunch in the 2nd, so we need to keep watch. Battery operated power tools have gotten so good, somebody can climb under a car and cut off a catalytic converter in a  matter of  minutes.   Once in a while we’ll get a good video of one and  they just slide underneath.  Sometimes they’ll  park a car next to the car they’re working on and they’re in and out in a minute.   

[Brief discussion of rebuilding 2-PAC Board.]



Emilie Quast, Member
2nd Precinct Advisory Council
1911 Central Ave NE
Mpls, MN 55418 

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May 12 Meeting, Part 2: STATE OF THE PRECINCT

Posted on August 21, 2025 | Leave a comment

STATE OF THE PRECINCT – May 12, 2025

NIBRS Crime Metrics, Last 28 days 2025 2024 3 yr ave.

Assault 70 88 84 Incl. Domestic Ag. Assault 7 16 9

Break and Entry 12 13 20

Vandalism 54 74 69

Homicide, negligent 0 0 Homicide, non-negligent 0 1 1

Larceny 167 184 190

MV Theft 51 115 98

Robbery 6 24 16 Incl. Car-Jacking 1 0 2

Sex Offenses 4 10 10

Stolen Property 1 1 1

Weapons Law Violations 3 4 6

Gun Wound Victims 0 1 2

Shots Fired Calls 21 25 22A

Inspector Torborg: Everything is trending in the right direction.

One frustrating thing we deal with in the 2nd Pct. more than anything else is auto thefts, and it’s all over the board. One week will be as low as 8 for the precinct, and the next week we’ll have 20 some, and then the week after that we’ll have 12.

We’re focusing on why we’re still having relatively high levels of auto thefts. We’re figuring out where some of these suspects live, and link auto thefts with the motor vehicle recoveries.

We have a couple known auto thieves in NE Minneapolis, juveniles, so we’ve been working with the juvenile division to see if more work can be done with them. It’s weather dependent too, so that’s a little tricky to deal with.

The Qawah House coffee shop: I was excited. Most cops are fans of coffee shops, and that one was opening right across the street from the precinct. It would have been very convenient for us. When they opened, I went over there and had a good cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, the first weekend in May, it immediately got out of control with large crowds as someone already said. it was not just the noise, not just the disorderly people, but trash left everywhere.

When we get a situation like this, the first thing I do is check with licensing. Sure enough, they’re supposed to close at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. They were operating well past their hours. So they’re not off to a very good start.

Licensing has already mailed them a letter indicating that they’re violating the terms of their license. I stopped over there with a lieutenant and a sergeant the next day. We asked for the manager, but when three experienced people in uniforms come walking in, owners and managers usually become very scarce.

I’m still trying to make phone contact with the owner, but he never seems to answer his phone and his voicemail is always full. I want to make personal contact with him so I can give him a friendly reminder that we value his business and they’ve got a good thing going over there, but they have to keep things under control and pay attention to operating within their hours.

Also, other businesses in the second precinct have their workers go out after closing and clean up the parking lot out to half a block away. They clean up all the litter in case it was some of their customers that left the litter. I like to encourage them to do that.

Qawah has gotten to the point where we had to chain that entrance to the precinct, because people were hanging out in our parking lot and filling it up. It became a party.

Last week, we had a horrible incident. A large group gathered outside of Qawah, and got out of control. Some people started to show off with their vehicles, [hot running]. One person thought it would be a good idea to zip past the coffee shop doing about 80 on his motorcycle. He hit a car a few blocks up the street and was very severely injured, but not killed. It was quieter for a couple of days, but then it picked up again this weekend.

When the hot running starts, civilians wonder, “Why don’t you just stop all those cars and take them in? Remember, we have a staffing issue in the 2nd Pct. Especially on weekend nights, we’re pretty busy. We don’t have the time to just hang out in front of the precinct and deal with that issue. Hopefully, the owner will get the message, and we won’t have to take more severe steps, but we won’t put up with that kind of nonsense.

Quast: I recall during Ramadan last year, a coffee shop owner had to negotiate later hours. I think you handled that negotiation and got the parties together.

Inspector: That’s kind of a success story. To be honest, it got ugly last year.

The owner hadn’t gotten an extended hours permit. Maybe he wasn’t aware of the rules. Unfortunately, he had a shooting there. When we increased patrols in the area last year, the owner made accusations.

But this year, he approached us well before Ramadan, filed the proper paperwork and had a good security plan. We didn’t have a single incident there during Ramadan at that shop. In fact, they’re going to stay open a little later now, year round.

That’s why we have a business licensing unit in the city. If we continue to have problems, Qawah House will start getting fines and that’ll cut into their profit margin. Maybe they’ll take it a little more seriously.

Comment: So I’ve got one more question. When they’re operating later than their licensed hours, is that something the police would cite?

Torborg: We would document it and forward that information to licensing. Licensing is on the civil side of law, not criminal. The licensing unit or the business licensing department of the city would mail them a fine.

You might be wondering why we just don’t walk across the street and shut them down. We really don’t have that option unless it’s like a riot situation. We try to handle [restaurant hours] on the civil-law side.

Question about precinct perimeter cameras:

Torborg: We actually do have a couple cameras already in place that cover it. The regular precinct security cameras show the activities, so there’s no debating what’s going on.

My office faces the restaurant. I can hear everything if I open my window or not. The kids are all hanging out in front of the precinct on the sidewalk, and they’re sitting on the walls in front of their car. They’re just goofing around and they’re loud.

I’m glad they’re having a good time. It’s good, clean fun. There’s nothing wrong with that at seven o’clock at night. But at midnight or later, that’s not acceptable.

We are putting up 15 minute time limit parking signs in our parking lot on the west side, too. We have people park in our lot at night, and they’re causing issues. It’s pretty easy to write the driver a parking tag, if they’re just hanging out being loud. We’ll see how it works. It’s a good plan and it’s worked well before.

Before I take that road, I’d like to meet the manager face to face and give him a chance. I don’t know if this person has much experience with running a business, and maybe he just didn’t know. Unfortunately, 31 years of law enforcement made me kind of cynical. I don’t know what he’s telling about himself, doing all of this directly across my precinct, but it’s kind of revealing.

Quast: You know, the quiet time ordinance? If you live in the University district, springtime parties can get so loud That is just quieted down. It’s been very effective, so I’m sorry it’s not working up on Central.

Torborg: I just thought of one last thing I want to say.

We’ve gotten questions about the open house this year. Typically we have it either this week or next week. This week we have 30 or 40 Minneapolis police officers in Washington because they’re adding Officer Mitchell’s name to the Law Enforcement Memorial in DC. That meant we don’t have extra staff right now to do an open house, so we postponed it until August 2.

Saturday, August 2, is an Open Streets event on Central Avenue. Central will be closed for quite a distance. Precinct Open House will dovetail nicely with the open streets event on Central, so we’re going to have our open house then.

Quast: Thank you very much!

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