The September Crime Report .. Going up!!???

With crime statistics such as Homicides matching last September’s level, an increase in Rape over last month, and Burglary up 10% over last month; I expect the Minneapolis “elected” to be celebrating in the days to come stating that crime is down. I would rather poll my neighbors and get their reactions to police warnings such as the ones stating that we lock our doors and windows because of the crime wave currently affecting a number of areas of the city. Maybe I should talk with “U” students to see if they are feeling safe on campus with the recent rapes and murders. I could talk with people in the Somali community who have experienced the recent attacks on their friends and neighbors. Huh… sounds like a safe city to me!!!!

In Minneapolis it’s “Crime to the left of me…Crime to the Right..Here I am stuck in the city with you”

Undeniably the headlines are not good coming out from Minneapolis.
Pedestrians in five neighborhoods robbed at gunpoint
Six Somali men shot to death since December
Women raped at the “U”
Slaying of an Augsburg student
Mentally illness woman raped in ally
Man found on railway tracks dead
Cyclist dies after run over by a truck.

What is the city council focusing on?
WiFi
Green Technology
Replacing the goodie money for the NRP
Continued digging into the treatment of the “protesters” at the RNC
Making the city walkable.

All I have to say is ….priorities, priorities, priorities.

Minneapolis streets are very dangerous

Never in my 36 years of living in Minneapolis do I recall a time that there has been so many reports of crimes on such a regular basis. Again, on Saturday we experienced a report of three stabbings that occurred on Lake Street. We have a crime alert on a rapist on the loose, and what has become a regular reporting of either arson, rape, or shooting. I hear from my neighbors about reports of prostitution activity in areas that haven’t experienced that before. No matter what the “elected” say it seems that there is a crime problem in Minneapolis, and they are either unable or unwilling to do what it takes to solve the issues. The “elected” seem to just bury their heads in the sand and imagine that everything is getting better, but I don’t buy this line of snake oil. For all of the investment in new technologies to solve and track crimes, there is no good replacement for boots on the streets. Minneapolis is long overdue for a influx of police hirings to place cops on the streets. Long overdue!

Homicides have doubled in Minneapolis over the last month

Welcome to crime time all you citizens. The August Homicide total doubled over July, Robberies increased 16%, and Aggravated Assaults are up. Can “the elected” continue to say crime is down? Fortunately as we get away from the summer months crime will decrease, maybe.

Serial Rapist spree in North Minneapolis… and they brag about crime being down

Five women are attacked over a 10 day span, so how can you say crime is down in Minneapolis. From June to July rapes went up 15%. Over the previous month they increase 29%. Of course this is the same gang that support a candidate for US Senate, Al Franken, who thinks abuse against woman and children makes for good satire.

You have an arsonist repeatedly attacking the Cardinal Bar in South Minneapolis and Arson is up 5% from June to July. Compare June 07 to June 08 and Arson had increased 21%. Compare May 08 to April 08 and you have an increase of 33%.

Homicides have doubled from July 07 compared to July 08 and from May 08 to June 08 doubled. Compare April 07 and April 08 and you’ll find an increase of 40%.
These numbers don’t represent a decrease in crime! Keep dreaming “Silly Council” and Mayor Socks!

Fight crime by doing something that isn’t window dressing

The Minneapolis Shadow is continuously irked by people who are a position to make a difference and really solve an issue who end up only doing something that amounts to window dressing. Now we have a bunch on posters from a Minneapolis chat group that are putting together a block party in North Minneapolis to draw attention to the hood. Good grief! Join hands and have another candlelight service why don’t you! These events do nothing to solve the issues! Where is the banding together to address the lack of the number of cops on the streets? Where is the group to increase sentencing terms for killers? Where is the city council protests against misappropriating public funds? Where are these groups against the do nothing incumbents? Well, I guess, if they solve problems they wouldn’t have a need for their forum now would they. Stop wasting everybody’s time!

For the 5th straight month crime is up in Minneapolis

Here are the numbers for the month of July.
Rape +15%
Robbery +7%
Aggravated Assaults +10%
Burglary +2
Larceny +5
Arson +5%
Overall crime totals +4%

Compared to last July
Homicide +100%
Burglary +9%
Larceny +10%
Overall crime totals +2%
And August is already not looking good in the Homicide department. Where is Mayor Rybak and the “silly council” on this? They must be hiding under their desks or ignoring the problem.

For the latest string of murders - bring on the vigils

First and foremost my heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones in the ongoing murders occurring in Minneapolis. All life is precious and we should mourn when one is cut short. These vigils that happen after a murder has been committed maybe good for community healing, but do nothing towards eliminating the problem. The best time that can be done to honor the memories of those gone is to take action to solve the problem. No amount of hand holding and singing of hymns is going to solve anything. It takes action by the “elected” officials, police, and the community to rid ourselves of this reoccurring problem. Unless our city council members, Mayor, and other “elected” officials take the kind of action needed to solve this; we are going to continue to break out the hymn books and candles. It’s past time to demand action!

Minneapolis Police award winning embarrassment

The Minneapolis Police award the officers involved in the mistaken raid on the wrong home. See the details at http://www.startribune.com/local/26083024.html?location_refer=Minneapolis:highlightModules:4.
The Minneapolis Shadow believes that it is correct to award officers’ that get shot in the line of duty. I can’t imagine how tough it is to be a police officer and I have the utmost respect for the police, and thank God they are out there. However, this is a total and complete blunder by the administration, and a good example of one of the major problems facing Minneapolis. As the story goes Chief Dolan didn’t speak with the family, but did spoke with Hmong community leaders who were mostly understanding of the awards. Not speaking to the family before the awards were handed out is the wrong thing to do. He might not have been successful in getting the family to talk with him or getting them to understand, but it should have been attempted. Be it the Mayor, City Council, County Board, State Representatives, or whoever from Minneapolis; it seems that the idea of talking with certain community leaders is what they always do instead of talking directly to the people themselves. Most of the time I find that so called “community leaders” really don’t have the backing of the majority of a group of people to begin with. On the national scene people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are looked upon as “community leaders” and end up speaking for black people. I have found that most black people don't think the same way these two do, and therefore aren’t a true representation of their beliefs, needs, wants, and desires. The “elected” need to be more careful who they are putting in front of the line of communication, especially in a situation such as this. Why allow anyone else to speak for the people who are most directly concerned? Talking to just the “leaders” is either an attempt at putting forward just a token effort, or is just plain misguided.

Another couple of KILLINGS in North Minneapolis

First of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family members who lost loved ones today. It is a very sad occurrence, and my heart goes out to you,
Second, to the community affected, my hope for you is that you are able to find a way to not feel the fear from these types of actions. We need to have a degree of security restored in the areas of our city that are ravaged with violence.
Our city leaders , “elected” politicians , and justice system have let us all down. The number one job of anyone elected to public office is to serve and protect the public, and to that I say the “elected” in Minneapolis are in dereliction of duty. While they celebrate an unearned victory in bring the crime rate down, which it really isn’t, they are actually ostriches with their collective heads in the sand (really I think they hide their heads somewhere else) and won’t deal with the reality of the situation. When are we going to get some real leadership on the crime issue, and get this under control?

Crime in Minneapolis is really up???!!!!

Don’t let the news people and “elected” fool you, crime is really going up in Minneapolis. When you compare June 2007 and June 2008 you find Homicide up 40%, Burglary is up 12%, Larceny is up 6%, and Arson is up 21%.When you compare June 2008 to May 2008 you find total crimes are up 16%, homicide is up 100%, Rape up 29%, Robbery up 9%, Aggravated Assaults up 8%, Burglary up 19%, Larceny up 20%, and Arson up 5%. When all the factors are reviewed they are not representative of a city with crime on the decrease. I can’t wait to see what July has in store for us.

Why is a level 3 sex offender and kidnapper on the loose after only 8 years behind bars?

Southeast Minneapolis residents were treated to a level 3 sex offender on the loose in their neighborhood who is now captured as of Monday evening. Most likely to reoffend sexual predator, Christopher Don Boswell, was released from his three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of kidnapping 2000 conviction on May 27th and went missing July 7th. Why is this guy out after only eight years if he has 3 counts CSC, 2 counts kidnapping, and is level 3 offender? Of course he ends up in Southeast Minneapolis. At least he was found and hopefully hasn’t attacked anyone. This is the kind of person that needs to remain behind bars. He is a danger to society and government has the responsibility to keep us safe from him. This is another case of the justice system failing to serve in the public’s interest, and one of the reasons that we continue to have these types of attacks happening in our community.

Crime and Violence: Who is to blame

The elected officials and news outlets like the StarTribune need to stop beating around the bush and address the violence and crime problems. In today’s edition of the StarTribune is a quote that the shooting that happen in 2006 that killed Brian Cole happen after Cole left the Juneteenth festival. In the previous articles, one dated May 28 on the Cole murder trial, mentions it having happen at the festival. Way to cover up for the festivals’ good name. We can’t have this festival be marred by violence now can we. Even if this is a minor detail in a very large issue, it points to a number of problems that are at the very heart of the reason why the violence continues…one major fact is that no one is willing to face this head on. The city council, mayor, and other elected officials aren’t crying out for this violence to stop. They are mute on the very issue. It is outrageous that this behavior is allowed to continue without a strong public stance and action plan by the very people who are responsible for stopping this madness. The press is as much to blame for not calling these folks into account for it. So the madness continues.

Juneteenth shooting .. Where is the outrage

We in Minneapolis have become way to use to this. Where is the outcry from the public and elected officials to address this issue of crime and violence?
One of the great things about Minneapolis is the fun outdoor activity that makes up life in the summertime. This sort of stuff really “kills” the joy of these types of events, and I choose my words here very carefully. What does it take for the “elected” in this town to become serious about this violence problem? Remember the Cole murder? Maybe this incident was another “I didn’t mean to cause any harm”. If these animals that did this on Saturday get caught they should be locked up and the key thrown away. It would not only stop them from ever doing again, but also prove to others thinking about doing the same that society doesn’t put up with this type of behavior. If this isn’t done we will continue to experience this over and over again.Consider this a calling out of Mayor Rybak, City Council members, County Board, State and Federal Representatives and Senators, and Judges. The Minneapolis Shadow challenges to take clear, decisive, and public action to properly address the problem of the violence that grips this city.