Secrets of the City

I think there are a lot of people out there with poor business and networking skills…and too many bullets.

The city has a problem.

As much as I generally dismiss the Strib, I have to say that I appreciate their (editorial) comparison to NYC and assertions that we could learn a lesson from how they dealt with crime and livability issues.

The problem as I see it though, was pointed out here by someone in another thread: The TC is not a tourist destination. As such, we don’t have the national spotlight on us and our crime in the same way that NYC did. Furthermore, we can’t say that “oh my god, tourists won’t come from Nebraska to see shows at the State Theater b/c of our issues” in the same way that NYC officials might say that about their attractions.

As a result, I think it’s going to be more difficult to motivate our local government to action. (And often I believe that they are stumped as to what sort of action to take…)

Anything that keeps Billy & Buffy Suburbia out of downtown is not such a bad thing if you ask me…

Listen, Billy and Buffy piss me off too, but they bring lotsa cash into local restaurants and nightclubs. I for one do not wish to see downtown nightlife go away… and I think they will if we have no suburbanites comin’ down to act cool at Bellanotte or whatever.

The city just sent out a news release saying the FBI’s numbers are incorrect. Here it is:

While the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report indicated that Minneapolis had experienced a 35.5 percent increase in violent crime from 2004 to 2005, in fact the increase was less than half that amount at 15 percent. This is consistent with the trends that MPD had already identified and has been addressing through multiple public safety strategies.

Make no mistake. Any increase in crime is not acceptable and well continue to do the good work weve begun to ensure the safety of the people of Minneapolis, said Interim Police Chief Tim Dolan.

MPD had notified the FBI that there was a problem with the data, but the incorrect data made its way into this preliminary report. Today the FBI confirmed that this is a preliminary report and that the corrections will be reflected in the final version.

The following statistics reflect the correct data:

· Violent crime  was up 15% in 2005 compared to 2004

· Robbery  was up 15% in 2005 compared to 2004

· Homicide – was down 11.3% in 2005 compared to 2004

· Assault  was up 19% in 2005 compared to 2004

· Property crime  was up 10% in 2005 compared to 2004

· Part I crime  was up 11% in 2005 compared to 2004

More information on the data will be available tomorrow.

Well if Hatch is unable to spin this into a referendum about T-Paw’s police cut-backs than phooey on him!

Especially when it’s just easier (l-a-z-i-e-r) to blame Rybak and the City Council.

Ahahaha.

DEWEY BEATS TRUMAN!

Film at 11.

Oh yeah, silly me, I forgot that the Governor is responsible for everthing from Canada to Iowa… including the graffiti on my dumpster and the used condoms in my alley.

Why do we even NEED a Mayor and City Coucil? I’m sure Pawlenty can fix everything. We’re sure as hell gonna blame him no matter what…

Back-of-the-envelope notes on New York v. Minneapolis.

NYNY has 39,110 police officers for 8,168,338 residents. That’s 1 cop per 208 people.

Mpls has approx. 800 (soon to be 860) police officers for 373,188 residents. That’s 1 cop per 466, soon to be 434 people.

It’s more striking if you look at the numbers by the area of these cities. Mpls is 55 square miles; NYNY is 303. That means Mpls has 14.5 cops per square mile (soon to be 15.6) while NYNY has 129 cops per square mile.

Obviously the number of officers isn’t everything. But it means that Mpls lacks resources to move officers to areas in crisis. And because Mpls is less densely populated than NYNY, one would think we would need more officers per capita / per square mile. A cop on a street corner in NYC will automatically see — and be seen by — more people than a cop on a corner here. We’re at a huge disadvantage.

I’ve lived in both cities, and there’s no question you see more beat cops in New York. It’s very rare that I see a cop walking a beat in Mpls, especially outside Downtown.

Now if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to go scrape egg of a bunch of faces and make a cheese and crime omlet with onions.

Why wasn’t the PD more agressive in getting the correct number out? This story first broke in the newspaper over the weekend? Bizarre.

Another NY v MPLS comparison.

Giuliani had cops hustle off small-time hucksters. He had cops shuffle along panhandlers, outlawed squeegie window guys, jaywalkers. He claims that probably made as big a difference than the high profile stuff.

I blame the breakdown of the American family, due to gay marriage.

I’m so relieved I’m going to go fire off a few rounds into the air down by the convention center.

Allison Triarsi is saying the MPD submitted incorrect numbers. Now KSTP is running canned photage of some cop from L.A.

Now Jason is telling us about a teacher using video games to help his kids understand english and it looks like it’s working. Talk about a teacher who deserves performance pay.

See, you waitied for Allison at 10pm, and I provided the info here at 5:49pm.

Cool teacher. I was supposed to be doing a live shot, but we couldn’t dial in the shot. So I got to play a little pinball, and now I’m home. Not a bad night.

I’m surprised nobody mentioned McManus’s initative last summer to pull oficers from their regular duties (including the SAFE unit) to be on his rapid response team.

Murders down, other crime up.

I’m not even sure if this was to blame, but I sure liked the idea of zero tolerance for livability crimes and traffic violations as a way to sweep up the riff raff and run them for warrants.

I know. I’m a Nazi.

I’ve lived in SE Mpls for 7 years, and we’ve had more muggings at gun point this year than the last 6 combined (so it seems). Yes, new cheif, your wondeful stats have identified that the upsurge is due to teenage black males engaging in armed robbery. Yes, it’s a new trend.

Now, do something about it.

I’m surprised nobody mentioned McManus’s initative last summer to pull oficers from their regular duties (including the SAFE unit) to be on his rapid response team.

Murders down, other crime up.

I’m not even sure if this was to blame, but I sure liked the idea of zero tolerance for livability crimes and traffic violations as a way to sweep up the riff raff and run them for warrants.

I know. I’m a Nazi.

I’ve lived in SE Mpls for 7 years, and we’ve had more muggings at gun point this year than the last 6 combined (so it seems). Yes, new cheif, your wondeful stats have identified that the upsurge is due to teenage black males engaging in armed robbery. Yes, it’s a new trend.

Now, do something about it.

I’m surprised nobody mentioned McManus’s initative last summer to pull oficers from their regular duties (including the SAFE unit) to be on his rapid response team.

Murders down, other crime up.

I’m not even sure if this was to blame, but I sure liked the idea of zero tolerance for livability crimes and traffic violations as a way to sweep up the riff raff and run them for warrants.

I know. I’m a Nazi.

I’ve lived in SE Mpls for 7 years, and we’ve had more muggings at gun point this year than the last 6 combined (so it seems). Yes, new cheif, your wondeful stats have identified that the upsurge is due to teenage black males engaging in armed robbery. Yes, it’s a new trend.

Now, do something about it.

I’m surprised nobody mentioned McManus’s initative last summer to pull oficers from their regular duties (including the SAFE unit) to be on his rapid response team.

Wait …

what would be really cool is if Russ actually typed out all three entries…

That ought to be a crime.

Those numbers make me happy I live in St Paul! (Our numbers are much better…)

Oh yeah, silly me, I forgot that the Governor is responsible for everthing from Canada to Iowa… including the graffiti on my dumpster and the used condoms in my alley.

Why do we even NEED a Mayor and City Coucil? I’m sure Pawlenty can fix everything. We’re sure as hell gonna blame him no matter what…

I’m going to use hyperbole too: Rybak and the city council deserve all the blame for anything that ever happens in Minneapolis. This guy last night puked on the sidewalk–which is the same exact thing as a murder because I was there and it made me upset– and therefore Rybak should lose his job.

Anyhoo, in reality I don’t think he deserves all the blame, but don’t you find him even partially responsible? He is, in fact, responsible for every budget from Canada to Iowa and he gutted many of them.

Those numbers make me happy I don’t live in Baghdad! (Our numbers are much better…)

I wouldn’t be upset about the rising crime rates, except for I expect it’s the blacks who are bearing the brunt of it. Crime is better when it mainly afflicts stupid honkies.

By “bearing” do you mean as victim or offender? Because I see a lot of both.

Well DouglasG I am sure if anyone was out on the streets in St. Paul after 6pm they would very well be raped and murered as well.

So don’t feel too left out!

*murdered*

Snarky misspelling karma payback!

There are places in the ‘burbs where you could be murered — er — murdered and/or raped. No place is safe except Cheney’s bunker in that undisclosed location. (Unless Tricky Dick is there!) However, most places don’t get problematic until after dark. So, you’re fairly safe at 6PM. 11PM is a different story…