urbanMSP

Bystander was shot outside of Jimmy John's on 6th St. at 7:15 last night. 2nd time this summer a pedestrian has been shot on 6th St. during early evening hours.

Maybe we can get somebody to post the Everything Is Fine dog.

You live in a city. Get used to it, MNdible.

Can we please stop acting like crime is not a problem in this area Denial is not a resolution. Two bystanders shot this summer so far right by here, in early evening...that is not normal "you live in a city" stuff. So disappointing....yet rarely discussed on here.

The attempted solution seems to be parking MPD vehicles on the sidewalk every few blocks.

What would you like to discuss about crime? Two instances of low-frequency bad things have happened in the last few months. That's terrible.

See, that is the reaction it gets on here. No big deal, a couple bystanders shot. lol. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it. Nevermind, downtown is great!! No problems here.

I do like the increased police presence...Things seemed to have improved a bit with that. Sad that that is what it takes downtown on Henn(police cars on the sidewalk), clearly there are many issues to address.

Do you have any productive ideas that the city isn't already doing? Besides a comprehensive anti-poverty campaign?

I really don't...I do know they have been involving the businesses on Hennepin and having regular meetings...and I know are working on ideas to improve safety in that stretch. I just don't like to pretend it's not a problem or say "well it has only happened twice or X amount of times" and downplay it like it is nothing. Activities that can lead to this type of event are rampant on this part of Hennepin, as most who walk that area know (drug dealing). Luckily a passer by has been shot "only twice" this summer...though there have been several shootings that haven't hurt bystanders. I have honestly had a discussion with one officer who surmised that once construction quiets down, he expected less flare ups, as the dealing could disburse a bit, instead of being all on Henn. This is what some business owners seem to think too...who knows.

Also, I am wondering when we are going to see the corner of 6th and Henn open up with the Jack Links thing. I think that was supposed to be their restaurant, but not sure if that is being worked on yet, or if it is just the office for the build out of the rest of their space? We haven't heard a lot of details since their initial announcement.

See, that is the reaction it gets on here. No big deal, a couple bystanders shot. lol. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it. Nevermind, downtown is great!! No problems here.

Two low-probability events are potential evidence of a problem that needs a policy change, but not irrefutable evidence. As I understand it, the overall statistical picture doesn't match the anecdotes. Until it does, I'm not going to get worked up about a crime wave. Bad things happen sometimes.

I do like the increased police presence...

I mean, I guess there's no other choice but I'm mindful that the presence of police isn't reassuring to everyone in the community.

Sad that that is what it takes downtown on Henn(police cars on the sidewalk)

The good part about the parked cars is that the officers themselves seem to be out and about on foot. That's great. Not sure why they've picked the best place to park, and even if it's intended to be a visible indication of police presence, I don't particularly like them taking up big chunks of sidewalk (not least because they do that for their own convenience all the time).

I think the parking is probably intended for increased visibility....but maybe just for their own convenience, like you say.

Should have put the cops on bikes instead of parking their cars on the sidewalk, then they would have actually caught the two thugs who did this yesterday.

As I understand it, the overall statistical picture doesn't match the anecdotes. Until it does, I'm not going to get worked up about a crime wave.

Law enforcement, others voice disgust with latest Hennepin Avenue gun violence

In downtown, the number of serious assaults such as shootings and stabbings has climbed steadily in recent years, peaking at 81 in 2015, according to department statistics. This year, assaults leading to serious injury downtown are on pace to hit 78, a 42 percent jump from 2010, records show.

crisis

Without knowing how changes in police practices affect a chart like that, it's pretty meaningless. Still, if you focus on the green line (Assault with Weapons), it's a pretty notable spike.

The police will certainly take strong stance advocating for greater gun control.

I guess I just interpret those charts differently. Certainly looks like a significant spike since 2014, and from what I hear those categories are on track to be up again in 2017.

The "I'm not concerned because things used to be worse" argument falls pretty flat with me. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable arguing that we shouldn't be overly concerned with the increase in white supremacist activity and hate crimes since Trump was elected because, hey, things were way worse 50 years ago.

There's no acceptable level of crime. Obviously we will never eliminate it, but when we see a multi-year monotonic increase, I think we should take it very seriously.

I think it's important to be humble about how little we can do to prevent crime. There's no obvious change in policing or policy that created the 2000s drop; by the same token, I am very skeptical that there's anything simple (or even reasonably complicated) that someone's failing to do to arrest the rise.

I think it's important to be humble about how little we can do to prevent crime. There's no obvious change in policing or policy that created the 2000s drop; by the same token, I am very skeptical that there's anything simple (or even reasonably complicated) that someone's failing to do to arrest the rise.

One possible explanation (and I don't know if this had anything to do with it; it's just a guess) would be the heightened security climate in general post-9/11 -- more law enforcement visibility, more surveillance, more attention to building security, etc.

Obviously we will never eliminate it, but when we see a multi-year monotonic increase, I think we should take it very seriously.

This is an easy thing to believe when you are not among those who will feel the negative effects of "more policing."

And yes, you didn't say more policing, but that's what we will get, because as jaromir implied, we're not going to get better overall policy.

I think it's important to be humble about how little we can do to prevent crime. There's no obvious change in policing or policy that created the 2000s drop; by the same token, I am very skeptical that there's anything simple (or even reasonably complicated) that someone's failing to do to arrest the rise.

Yes, exactly.