On 9/9/24, the meeting was called to order with 7 attenders in person and 6 attending by ZOOM.
Our invited speaker, Nicholas Juarez, Director Juarez U of MN Community Engagement, is here to present the new U of MN Safety Center, which officially opened on Sept 13, at 315 14th Ave SE, in the heart of Dinkytown.
In April of this year, Inspector Torborg and Director Juarez outlined the new cooperative plan to increase safety in East Marcy Holmes and Dinkytown. [See https://courtwatch2pac.com/2024/04/14/] This was the first outline we heard of the scope of the double coverage and of the plans for the proposed Safety Center in Dinkytown.
The University’s statement of commitment to public safety [ https://safe-campus.umn.edu/neighborhood-safety] says, in part, “We are unwavering in our commitment to provide a safe environment for our students, faculty, and staff both on campus and in our neighboring communities. . . . [W]e rely on our many partners including local communities, city and transit police, state policymakers, landlords, and merchants to elevate safety and a vibrant community.”
“Enhancing Public Safety in Nearby Neighborhoods” has three strategies, so far.
Dinkytown alerts
SAFE-U Alerts are sent to notify the community of crime occurring in the limited Dinkytown area (east of 35W, south of 8th Street SE, and northwest of the East Bank campus). Neighbors or parents can download this Everbridge app by entering keyword UMNDINKYTOWN on their device
Dinkytown Safety Guides and others
Contracted through Block by Block, around four Dinkytown Safety guides patrol Dinkytown Thursdays through Saturdays from 2:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. They provide safety escorts, report suspicious activity, and overall give friendly neighborhood interaction with residents and visitors. [EQ: also see https://www.blockbyblock.com/cities/minneapolis-did/ ]
Director Juarez: We have partnerships with Somali Youth Link [EQ: https://somaliyouthlink.org/]. They’ll be in the area Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The Off-Campus Safety Center will be their base of operations. They will start their tour at the Center, walk the Dinkytown area, and then can come back for their breaks.
The Off-Campus Safety Center, operated by the Department of Public Safety, brings resources and community to the heart of Dinkytown. Along with opportunities to connect with UMPD, the Safety Center will offer community engagement, safety classes, and student space.
Any officers working the Dinkytown area, whether they’re on traffic details or just walking the Dinkytown area, MPD or UofM PD, can use the space. They can have a cup of coffee, use the restroom, or just take a break. We also have a “secure room” for any officer who needs to do a report.
We have a a five-year lease on that space. It’s a really strong commitment from the University Dept. of Public Safety. We will be a continued partner with the city, trying to improve the livability, and to reduce the opportunity for crime that we see in the Dinkytown/Marcy Holmes East neighborhood. [EQ: See the official opening video from 9/13/24: https://www.linkedin.com/company/umnpublicsafety/posts/]
Anybody have any questions, comments, concerns?
QQ: Thanks! Will the staffing consist of sworn officers?
Juarez: The Safety Center will be staffed, daytime and nighttime, by our Dept. of Public Safety, called University Security. Those are students and full-time personnel who are in uniform. [EQ: https://publicsafety.umn.edu/about-us/careers-public-safety/university-security]
They patrol our buildings on campus and do our “624 WALK” program [EQ: https://publicsafety.umn.edu/campus-safety/624-walk-service ] which is uniformed escort. They will be manning the Safety Center from 3 to 11.
Other officers, including Sworn Officers, will be in and out, but won’t be stationed there. It’s not a police substation.
QQ: I live near Stadium Village, and I’ve noticed that there’s an increased presence. There are more cop cars in Dinkytown and near Stadium Village. Also, I’ve seen people who are not police, but authority on the train. Is this a new initiative — more authority in Dinkytown and other parts of campus?
Juarez: Metro Transit Ambassadors ride the trains, but they’re community officers. They’re usually in large groups — 5 – 8 people. They check for fares, check on people on the train. They’re the blue shirts you’ll see on the trains.
Usually the first couple of weeks of school, we bring in a lot of law enforcement partners. The Minn. State Patrol has has been sending in cars every weekend. We also step up our staffing during the weekends, to do traffic enforcement in the Dinkytown area.
We signed a contract with Metro Transit Police Dept. because they’re shorthanded as well. One of the things that we do is to put two officers on the trains between East Bank and West Bank, morning and afternoon. Our officers do ride the train in the mornings. They start about 6:30 to about 8:00, and are back again from about 5 to 7. We’ll do that for about six weeks. People tend to get a routine after that. It’s good to have a visual presence until new students get used to the transit system.
Juarez emphasized: That’s one thing Chief Clark made clear. When we have our officers on the street — when they’re doing traffic detail and out of their vehicles — they must be a visible presence and have their lights on, so people see the squad cars.
We’ve also done some safety walks. We did one on Friday and on Saturday. Our safety walk on Saturday included three 2nd Pct. officers with us.
Again, just walking Dinkytown, and the neighborhood. Just having that visibility. I’m working on other initiatives and opportunities to get some more uniformed personnel to do the Dinkytown walks, to be more visible by walking around.
We have a safety walk planned for this Saturday night. It will involve U of M personnel and some city personnel. We will also try to get students, parents, and people who that live in the area to be part of that safety walk. If we show there’s some ownership, more people will call 911 when they see suspicious activity, or a crime being committed. That helps build up the strength of the community.
And that is what we’re trying to do: to have more eyes on the street, to be very visible. Chief Clark has made it clear: he wants his officers on the street, and if they’re NOT doing traffic detail, he wants them on the corner being very visible.
Comment: We always appreciate your updates and miss you in the 2nd Pct. Two questions for you. How did the first football game go, with the road construction, and, I’ve heard that this is the largest incoming class at the U ever. What are you watching for with the huge increase in numbers?
Juarez:, I think we’re over 8,000 freshmen, which is incredible. Part of my team’s responsibilities is to do all the freshmen orientation. We talk to as many parents and as many students as we can, to give them that awareness: be aware of your surroundings, lock the doors, buy good quality locks for bikes, and know where the blue phones are. We really try to educate as much as we can.
One of the benefits of the Safety Center is we’ll continue to do those education classes, even though orientation is over. If we can draw more people in, that will benefit all.
Football: You know the second game we won. The first game, it rained like crazy, it got delayed. [EQ: L: 17-19 heartbreaker]
Roads update: 4th St.: They’re laying asphalt today [9/9] on 4th. University Ave. is next. What they did on 4th, they’ll do to University: every corner will be redone. 4th went from 4 four lanes to 2 lanes and 2 bike lanes. University will have a bus lane, a bike lane, and 2 lanes. The construction has created some hazards.
We’re doing a safety walk on Saturday. There are a lot of dark intersections down there as well. The County doesn’t leave street lights when they’re reconstructing, but we have our portable light trailers and portable camera trailers (with lights) on those intersections, plus someone on the street.
Inspector Torborg: First of all, the UofM Police Dept. has been a huge help for the 2nd Pct. Obviously with the Safety Center now, but back in March, they agreed to take 911 calls along University and 4th St. That’s about 500 calls a year that MPD squads won’t have to respond to.
You mentioned the heavier police presence down there. We’re teamed with U of M Police Dept. every weekend, Friday and Saturdays. U of M officers do a traffic detail, usually around 4th St. This means, where traffic is restricted, they enforce any traffic or equipment violations they see.
We’ve been doing this all summer. We have six officers down there on overtime. Their job is to be on the corners, (University from 13th to 15th Aves) just for that presence. So far it seems to be working out very well. What we’re trying to do is to dissuade the people (who have caused trouble there in the past) from coming to Dinkytown. It seems to be working.
Last Saturday, somebody with a gun posted that they were going to meet in Dinkytown. We were waiting for them, but they never materialized, which was good.
We’re very indebted to the UofM PD. I appreciate Matt Clark and Nick and everything they’ve done to help out down here. Last year at this time, it was a different story.
Comment: Don’t you wish that the Bloods and the Crips would have a website so we could know in advance when they were gathering.
Torborg: That’s almost the case now. Kids can’t resist posting stuff on social media. We have Intel people and good cops who just monitor that stuff on their own time. Actually a post by a person posing with a handgun and urging people to join them in Dinkytown was picked up by one cop on his own and by our Intel people at the same time.
Comment: You mentioned 911 calls. When are they concentrated?
Torborg: I think our peak time is between 8PM and midnight. [EQ will contact the 911/311 to get peak times in the in the 2nd Pct. ]
SOMEONE: That’s why the day watch and the dog watch overlap between 8:30 and 1:30
CM Rainville: I wanted to come tonight, Nick, to thank you personally for your leadership over there, working with the Mpls Police Dept. [and] carrying this vision of that actual piece of land that belongs to public safety. I think as you learn how to use that with the students, it’s going to be an incredible success.
EQ: See Part 2 of this report for STATE OF THE PRECINCT.
2nd Precinct Advisory Council 