Secrets of the City

Remember the story of the little girl shot in Minneapolis? Her family got one of those letters, too.

While we’re on the topic, a friend of mine was attacked in downtown Mpls by a group of “youths”. He fought with them, the cops were called, and one of the youths was caught. Although he had my friend’s blood all over him, the County Attorney declined to prosecute. Don’t forget to vote for Klobuchar for Senate, though.

Sounds like you read my comment in the VA post. Next time, let them take your checkbook. The laws on check forgery are older and are more heavily enforced.

Not to make light, but comedy is my coping mechanism.

While I empathize and sympathize with your frustration and in no way am I trivializing it but you have to admit that chinese takeout, pizza and a cable bill may not rise to the level of crime syndicate. Let me guess, some overfed, cable watching (obviously lots of Pay per view) idiot and his buddies went on an indulgent bender having found your card – maybe he worked at one of your regular establishments…

What was the stated reason for declining to prosecute?

I will answer, Luke, cause I live with the guy. . They would not prosocute because the fraud charges were under $5000. $5000!! What I want to know is who the MPD thinks lives in this city that $5000 is any kind of a reasonable minimum. That’s more than the credit line on any card I’ve ever had.

I’m guessing if they don’t cause loss of more than $500 they never prosecute.

section 609.52, subdivision 3, clause (4);

(4) to imprisonment for not more than one year or to
payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both, if the value
of the property or services stolen is more than $250 but not
more than $500; or

The stated reason was that the guy who was apprehended said it was one of the other guys who had attacked my friend, so the attorney said he would be unlikely to get a conviction. When the guy was asked what the other guy’s name was, he said “Spook.” Really.

Casual Observer, you might want to read Gladwell and Giuliani about the effects of letting small crimes go. Not good, as we’re seeing in Minneapolis right now.

actually Casual Observer, because many large cities have such outrageous policies on investigating identity theft, thieves will steal multiple cards and keep purchases to a minimum. My guess is that while this guy probably does eat too much and watch too much television, he/she has a basket full of stolen numbers and cards and probably has reeked havoc on several innocent victims, all without fear of investigation from cops. What, may I ask, is the difference of spending thousands of someone else money using multiple cards versus using one card? This does indeed constitute heinous criminal behavior. In my opinion anyway.

TBartel – you are right of course, I was not suggesting that he/she not be prosecuted, merely that the criminal was not a sophisticated thief (I mean, really, he paid off his own cable bill!). Of course he should be prosecuted.

Btw- It was James Q Wilson, author of the book “broken windows” that inspired Guilani and Gladwell’s “Tipping Point.” And while interesting, I think, arguably, Levitt did a good job of arguing a more persuasive theory (roe v wade) in “freakonomics.”

Actually, there’s some pretty strong evidence that Levitt’s abortion theory is BS.

The principle piece of counter-evidence that he doesn’t account for is that The Pill reduced fertility to a far greater degree than legalized abortion, yet with no corresponding decrease in crime.

He also initially failed to account for crime per-capita, though when called on it he fixed his model and said the effect still remained.

Now I am aware that minneapolis police are under tight budget constraints due to Pawlenty’s brilliant idea for no new taxes;) –but by investigating this case, they could very well tap in to a network of thieves…

St. Paul had LGA cuts, too, you know. I don’t see their crime escalating out of control.

Luke – as the risk of getting severely off track, I will leave the last comment to Gladwell himself (http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2006/03/levitt_and_dubn.html) in his view these theories (broken windows and row v wade) can coexist:

“It’s important to note, once again, that I’m not disagreeing with the core of the Freakonomics argument. I’m just pointing out that there nothing inconsistent between what that book says and what my book says. They are looking at national crime trends. I was interested in explaining the anomaly that is New York.”

The Pill is ultimately effective only when a person takes it on a regular basis, and when a person can afford the medication. At the risk of generalizing too heavily, I think we can assume that middle and high income women have far greater access to this medicine, and are more likely to take it on time every single day, than poor women.

So while fertility rates may be lower, it is the type of fertility that really matters in Levitt’s model. Poor women aren’t having less children, middle and high income women are. And poor women, according to the statistics Levitt cites in Freakonomics, are much more likely to bear a child that grows up to be a criminal, due to the child’s unfortunate circumstances.

Like it or not, his theory carries a lot of weight.

Sounds like they are trying to avoid anything considered “petty crime” although certainly those types of things can be the tip of the iceberg. Does this lead to misrepresenting crime? My car was broken into twice in two weeks. First, to case it (we think). The second time to rip the $800 computer out that runs the car. My precinct told me to use the MPD’s online report filing for such a crime, which I’m assuming is becaue they think is minor. Because an officer did not come out and take my report, the crime is nowhere to be found in the monthly crime stats and maps they publish.

Interesting, no?

Although it looks like someone might realize the importance of one lead…also in my precinct.

Living in N Mpls, I have called the police many times, for a variety of reasons. Not once have I been impressed with the response (or response time) of the MPD. I know they have an extremely difficult job–especially in my neighborhood. But, I would expect something more than this apathetic person showing up, acting like I interrupted their nap.

Alright, that was mostly exaggeration.
Mostly.

Regardless, the police cannot be everywhere at once and cannot spend time on every crime that occurs. Even though we all feel wronged, obviously others have been more wronged (in the eyes of the police), thus deserving more attention. Just last night, my friend was assaulted at the corner store by my house. (Some arsehole asked her for money, she politely declined and he spit significant amounts of bodily fluids in her face.) As upset as she was, she didn’t even call the police, because she knew it wouldn’t make a difference. AND! To top it off, we had a bunch of our landscaping décor stolen out of our backyard last night, and a neighbors garage was broken into. Again.
Reports have been filed, and I am sure that is as far as my case will go.
/end pity party

All along, I have been a supporter of N Mplstrying to prove to anyone that would listenthat it isnt a horrible place to live. But, thanks to those with an outsized sense of entitlement, I feel that support fading quickly. It would be great to have some worthwhile tips for what the average citizen can do to make a difference. (No, I am not going to run for city council, or join the Guardian Angels.) Since the police may not be interested in solving our problems, what can we doon a neighborhood levelto help? Do block clubs really make a difference? What else is there for the average citizen?

I felt the same way after my car was broken into and my CD player stolen. I know its not a huge crime, but I also bet that whoever did it was stupid, left fingerprints all over the place, and probably has a record. I know, I’m naive like the Big Lebowski. I filed a police report and gave them the info on my CD player.

A year and a half later, I get a call from the Minneapolis Police impound center. They had found my CD player at a pawn shop, and since it was reported as stolen property, confiscated it. The bright side is that I got to use it again, since I hadn’t bought a new one. Unfortunately, my car died a couple months later, so I didn’t get to enjoy it for long.

This deserved its own thread? Who cares!!

The St. Paul vs. Mpls crime stats are actually pretty intriguing, but I’m not sure we could cover all the factors in any reasonable way in a mixed thread like this — or in any thread, for that matter. There are so many factors that go into this, from the approach the police force takes from their training to the street, to the stability of community institutions like schools and nonprofits, and even the demographics of the population.

This deserved its own thread? Who cares!!
Obviously I do, as I was stolen from.
And you should, because if you are ever a victim of a crime like this, you will wish those who acted against you would be pursued, at least in some manner.

But thanks for your insightful contribution.

Do you have the address of the house that the pizza was delivered?

Cuz, you know, if the police won’t take care of things…..

If nothing else you could spray some graffiti on their garage and then report it.

I really doubt they would do anything about it and then they would get that whooper fine!

there are lots of things you can do to get back at them.

just ask yourself this question: How much do you have to loose if you get caught?

My buddy saw a guy break into his truck, and he got the due’s license plate.

We tracked him to s. mpls, and gave the info to the cops, but they didn’t do shit.

My buddy was gonna go after him (brick through the windshield, sugar in the gas tank, order a buch of shit for delivery to his house, call his parents, call his work etc.) but in the end decided it wasn’t worth it to him. He has a job, no record at all, why sink to the level of that trash.

I commend him, but I at least would have sugared his gas tank.

sugar in the gas tank doesn’t work, BTW

LTLurker – All neighborhoods in Minneapolis have a neighborhood organization. I would get in contact with yours and find out what they have going on with respect to doing what they can with crime. In my neighborhood, we have a bunch of residents that formed a committee whose goal is to work on preventing crime in our neighborhood. We currently have a prostitution problem and recently had two murders, all within blocks of a high school. The group is also in frequent contact with the police. So there are things that can be done. You can also work on helping to plan a party for your block for National Night out which is August 1st.

The St. Paul vs. Mpls crime stats are actually pretty intriguing, but I’m not sure we could cover all the factors in any reasonable way in a mixed thread like this — or in any thread, for that matter. There are so many factors that go into this, from the approach the police force takes from their training to the street, to the stability of community institutions like schools and nonprofits, and even the demographics of the population.

True.

But it rings hollow to me when the “leaders” of Minneapolis point their fingers upward and blame budget cuts for higher crime at the same time their neighbor city made it through the same situation without turning into a quagmire.

Maybe, and maybe this makes me a “big dreamer,” Minneapolis should gander a look across the river and see how they handle things. I’m just sayin’

I’d fertilize the grass behind the thief’s garage. Apparently, tall grass will get the city motivated to take action.

If Governor Polenta and the Republican Leadership had a FREAKING CLUE (whicjh they don’t) they would see that MINNEAPOLIS & EAGAN are not CREQTED EQUAL!

Polenta maintains that all communities should get equal funding and this is what has caused the SPIKE in crime in Minneapolis.

That – along with Bush’s cutting of federal funding for police officers has left the leadership with limited options while this “unfunded mandate” to fight crime continues to escalalate.

You can’y blame Rybak for problems designed (and probably planned for) by Polenta & Bush.

Follow the money – and then vote Polenta OUT in November!

*CREATED!*

And comparing Minneapolis to St. Paul is like comparing San Francisco to Duluth.

I’m just sayin’.

I hate to get political: but I love polenta.

Too flavorful for us Minnesotans.

If there’s a silver lining to be found, it’s that if trends hold up, we’ll have some very objective numbers at hand for the next “new to the Metro, where should I live?” post.

I agree that comparing Minneapolis with St. Paul is like apples and oranges.

Budget cuts or not, the Minneapolis PD is right on top of any crime but the violent type. Long story short, I saw some youths beat up a kid in front of my apartment. The attackers fled, the cops showed up, then the victim fled. The cops took some statements and were on their merry way. A few minutes later, the attackers started harrassing a neighbor, I called 911 again, he fired a shot into the ground to scare the kids off, and the cops took forever (longer than the first time, and it was impossible for them to be far away this time). A few weeks later, my neighbor got a ticket in the mail for unlawful discharge of a firearm.

And comparing Minneapolis to St. Paul is like comparing San Francisco to Duluth.

Very well put. Superior, WI translates exactly to the East Side.

one-term-is pawlenty

I don’t get it…if someone used it to pay a Time Warner bill, it must be linked to someone’s account number, which would then be linked to the criminal’s address…right? Why can’t someone at Time Warner help piece this together? Couldn’t you request your bank or card company to credit you back since you didn’t authorize? Know anyone at Time Warner on the inside who can look this up if some phone rep doesn’t want to go to the bother?

I agree that comparing Minneapolis with St. Paul is like apples and oranges.

B as in B, S as in S. These are the two largest cities in the state, one is in the midst of a crime wave and raises property taxes like crazy, the other isn’t and doesn’t.

Now on to more important things…

My family has a strong Croatian history and we used to put on a Croatian fest in the small southeastern Iowa town where my mom grew up. I was dumb enough a few times to stay at my aunt’s house the night before while she was cooking barrels and barrels of polenta. If I ever see that food again I swear I’ll puke for days on end. That smell…

new to this site. and new to minneapolis for that matter. i noticed right away the absolute lack of really basic things that could be done to protect consumers here from identity theft. I was out getting my haircut one day in uptown. must have left my bag in the car for 5 minutes and someone went in the car, and stole ONLY my 2 debit cards. I didn’t even notice they were gone, but wells fargo had called and informed me of fraud on my account. But the thieves walked away with free gas. You can take any card you find on the street run it through any gas station credit card machine and walk away with a full-tank. I came from california, and what they do is to make you put in your zip code after swiping the card. Simple and it works! Also absolutely no one requires id when using debit. Even when you write on the back of the card please see id. It really is that simple, or even simpler, have people use a PIN. I never had unauthorized charges on my accounts while living in California, but here there are absolutely no safeguards. And obviously no one really cares.

Isn’t it kind of ironic that the part of Mpls that everyone seems to shit their pants over praising — NE — is the neighborhood that feels most like large swaths of St. Paul?

I don’t get it…if someone used it to pay a Time Warner bill, it must be linked to someone’s account number, which would then be linked to the criminal’s address…right? Why can’t someone at Time Warner help piece this together? Couldn’t you request your bank or card company to credit you back since you didn’t authorize? Know anyone at Time Warner on the inside who can look this up if some phone rep doesn’t want to go to the bother?

Diane
It is indeed linked to someone’s name and address, but Minneapolis apparently does not have the resources to consider this a ‘lead’ and follow up on it.

The bank will credit me back, after I fill out an afadavit detailing the fraudulent charges, presumably.

Time warner cannot release this information due to privacy laws in minnesota–laws that apparently the criminals here are absolutely lovin’.

From my last experience with Mpls Police, I’m not surprised. About 1.5 yrs ago, someone hit my car, and the car behind mine, on Hennepin. Three folks saw this, taking the time to report it to the police dept. It took over 3 weeks to find out who hit my car, as his “rights” were protected, even with a DUI I found out he had after the fact. My insurance company had to pay someone to hunt down the twit, as the city didn’t think someone with a previous bad history was worth the time.

And I agree, St. Paul has been fine w/ the cuts, as the phone calls are returned at least. Thx for taking the time in passing long the info, less tunnel and more peripheral vision will obviously be required.

Where’s Veronica Mars when you need her?

NE is kinda like St. Paul, especially the shitty industrial parts.

I’M KIDDING!

I love NE MPLS.

St. Paul?

Meh.

And Veronica Mars —she is THE MOST DIVINE WOMAN on TV!

One raises property taxes, the other raises user fees. Same difference.

Criminals are pussies, who cannot provide for themselves. They may think they are ‘thuggish’ and cool, but they are less than men. If only you were judged in the ‘gansta society’ not just by your bling, but by the bling you actually obtained legitimately.

To put some icing on the cake, my car was broken into last night.
But thanks to Minneapolis’s progressive stance on theft from autos, I was able to file the report online, without the inconvenience of talking to an actual person. Yay for un-enforced crime!

what about rybak? nobody ever points a finger at him.

I think marshaeg has a right to be outraged. When the criminal does everything but send a letter to the police confessing and giving his contact information, you’d think they’d take action and make the arrest just to get that easy additional check mark in the “number of criminals caught” statistics column.

You may want to follow up with your credit card company to see what action they will take. I’m sure they’re very interested in who’s cable bill was getting paid. Perhaps you could get the info through them and file a case in small claims court for punitive damages. Your hassle is worth something.

My parents had something similar happen after taking a card they never use to Vegas. 2 months later… charges for a pc shipped to the UK, charges for a party planner in Scotland… crazy stuff.

As for the Chinese food… how many people were they feeding? Chinese food is cheap, dang it!

You know how hard it is for police to have enough evidence on something like this to charge someone, much less enough to prosecute? It’s a huge time and expense up hill battle. Not worth it when, IF the case was won, the person will get 30 days in the work house stayed.

And no, the credit card company doesn’t care at all who’s cable bill they are paying: they are up to their eye balls in fraud and this doesn’t even come close to meeting their threshold to take interest.

It would be relatively easy for you yourself to get enough information to initiate a civil case to recover damages, but that isn’t worth it either because 1) the thief doesn’t have any money and 2) you could probably count on retaliation from them.

Take the chargeback from your credit card company, take a few steps to try and secure your information more and keep on livin.

Not that anyone will be reading this as I’m getting to it late, but St. Paul hasn’t “gotten through” the cuts, they’re just five years behind Mpls in addressing them. The city faces a $20 million budget shortfall this year as a result of the LGA cuts and the lack of any action by the previous City administration. You think personnel cuts and property tax hikes are on the way? Yep.

Also, MOW YOUR LAWN = PROBLEM SOLVED.

Well, Minneapolis is turning into Somolia every where you turn there are turbins so this does not surprise me. It is a shithole of a town.

An ignorant and bigoted population doesn’t help much either.

Turbans? Turbines? What precisely were you attempting to write?

I’m guessing this guy lives in Blaine and his only experience with Minneapolis is his weekly jaunt to have dinner with his wife at the Hard Rock Cafe before catching a Country and Western concert at the Target Center.