DISCUSSION: The question of getting more neighbors to attend meetings came up first. We need to increase neighbor participation in 2-PAC so that questions can be asked, explanations can be offered, answers can be given in a timely and pertinent way. Mike Rainville pointed out that when people attend, they can take information back to the n’hood and start a dialog. PAC is the fastest way to bring new issues to the attention of the Precinct and to take alerts from the Precinct back to the neighborhood. Building off that, Inspector Loining pointed out that when announcements go out, there is always room for misunderstanding, If something isn’t clear or is hard to understand, coming to a PAC meeting is a good way to talk things over.
STATE OF THE PRECINCT: Inspector Loining reported that in March, the 2nd Precinct saw two problem areas: robberies and burglaries. Burglaries have been an ongoing issue since last fall. The Second Precinct has responded with increased surveillance, a warning sign “Burglary Reduction Zone” indicating the increased patrolling. This is one area where “If you see something, say something” can really pay off, especially if you see enough to describe clothing or behavior. When residents notice something that doesn’t seem right and report it to the Precinct, that call is plotted on a map. This is how crime patterns are made visible so the precinct knows where to focus officer hours and attention.
Robberies in March: there were 10 robberies total: 1 of a business, 5 aggravated (with a weapon or threat of harm) robberies of persons, and 4 simple robberies of persons. There is some concentration in the Holland neighborhood. The business robbery is an ongoing investigation. Of the 5 aggravated robberies, two resulted in arrests, two were not assigned, and one was closed due to no cooperation from victim. The four simple robberies were resolved: one was routed to Property Crimes and assigned, two were assigned to investigators, and one was not assigned.
Inspector Loining also noted that the area in Marcy-Holmes just outside of Dinkytown, 6th Street SE close to St. Larry’s and ULCH and running west, has a high number of robberies every year for a number of reasons: many people don’t have cars or don’t need them to walk in and out, on a food run, running a quick trip to Target, or whatever. This is a place to practice proactive walking: be aware of your surroundings, walk with friends, put the cell phone away (it will draw close attention of someone who wants to steal it, and will make you inattentive), no earbuds. If someone approaches you and it doesn’t feel right, it’s NOT right. Always trust yourself about that feeling.
Suspicious behavior. We have officers patrolling in marked and unmarked cars. MPD has video equipment that reads license tabs, looking for a particular license number.
Staffing. Right now the Precinct is at 61 officers. Loining is satisfied that supervisors are working at making sure officers are not putting in more hours than they should, to prevent burnout. We expect to provide timely service to all residents. 911 does some prioritizing, but if there are 5 pending calls at the start of a shift, Loining wants his teams to skip roll call and get the officers out right away.
One person suggested that some of the load of the precinct might be mitigated by having social workers or other mental health professionals on staff at the precinct. Staffing is also impacted by physical issues, perhaps an officer has a physical issue and can’t work a squad shift for a while, so where do we use them? Would outsourcing things like computer work and data management be a better use of time? Inspector Loining noted that two civilians have been hired to process body cam data.
The dept has many specialty units, which are productive, but they do take resources from squad patrol. He believes that patrol is where the work must begin; it’s the foundation of police work. Question about shifting officers around as for game days and other events. Question: Why did a squad follow me down my alley with the lights off? Answer: Loining did that when he was in a squad in south Mpls. [lights alert people the squad is coming] He prefers his officers stop when they pull up to a person and ask friendly questions, like “How’s the evening going?”
Summary: We have 61 officers; they’re all working hard; we’re taking care of business.
Nick put together some summary maps of March crime in the 2nd Precinct:
Sector 2 (south of Broadway) saw 9 burglaries (6 of them through unlocked doors or no evidence of forced entry) all were of occupied dwellings, 2 resulted in arrest. There were two robberies of persons and one robbery of a business. 1 warrant was served for narcotics.
Sector 1 had 6 burglaries of dwellings, all were forced entries. There were also 4 robberies of persons with physical assault or threat with a knife and one robbery of business. 3 search warrants were served for weapons, narcotics, and there was one arrest on a 4th warrant.
COURTWATCH: Judi Cole (Henn.Cty) and Sarah Becker (Mpls )
New developments: Richard Breen, Bench warrant issued for parole violation 4/4; Cody Corbin, off probation monitoring; Johnny Hall, hearing on 5/18; Daniel Heacock had a first hearing on 4/5; Paula Heille, bench warrant on 10/9/17 for failure to appear; Bryan Holmes is on probation to 11/16/18; Curtis Laroque remains on probation to 11/04/18; Joshua Poplawski has a jury trial and separate hearing on 4/18/18; Robert Schroeder was convicted on 3/2/18 and is on probation for 1 year; Michael Zaccardi was convicted on 4/30/17 and is on probation.
Voted off the list: Hussein Farah, Steven Haney, Mahad Ismail; Kenneth Nelson.
We voted to add Maxim Guy Chance to the watch. He has 7 arrests citywide since 2015 but 2 arrests in 2018 in the 2nd Precinct (assault of one neighbor and threatening another neighbor).
————————-
————————-
May 14 is OPEN HOUSE! From 5 to 7PM, come to the Second Precinct Open House for food off the grill and finger food. Whether it rains or stays sunny, the canopy will go up. Cops on Bikes will be there. I don’t have a complete list yet, but I expect to see the awesome mobile command center, members of the K-9 team, outreach workers from this month’s presenter (Child & Teen Center), real working robots, and a whole lot more. I hope to see horses. This is a party being held for you, so just come. You are very welcome and wanted there. 1911 Central Ave NE with plenty of parking all around.
2nd Precinct Advisory Council 