Violent crime drops to one of the lowest levels in Minneapolis in more than 25 years
Minneapolis crime has dropped to one of the lowest levels in more than 25 years according to City officials. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Dec. 20, Mayor R.T. Rybak and Police Chief Tim Dolan reported that innovative new policing strategies and a continued focus on guns has helped the city reach a fourth straight year in reduction in violent crime, to one of the lowest levels in 25 years.
2009 had the lowest level of Part I crimes (which include violent crime and property crime) since 1963, and 2010 is on course to end with approximately the same levels. As a subset of Part I crime, violent crime has dropped compared to 2009. Year-to-date as of Dec. 13, violent crime is down 5.2 percent compared to 2009, and is likely to end the year as one of the lowest rates in the city in the last 25 years.
The Minneapolis Police Department’s Strategic Operations Center opened in fall 2010, as part of the City's new Emergency Operations Training Facility. The Strategic Information Center is a space where the Police Department analyzes data to determine long-range trends that pose potential risks to the city. The center can also provide emergency managers with important information during a major event, incident or disaster.
As part of its evidence-based policing efforts, Minneapolis police also put a new focus in 2010 on crime hot spots, recognizing that places are more predictable than people in responding proactively to potential criminal activity.
- As a subset of violent crime, robbery is often thought to be the bellwether crime, the one that indicates larger trends. As of Dec. 13, robbery is down by 5.2 percent to 2009. There have been fewer robberies in 2010 than in any year since 1983.
- The Fifth Precinct has seen the largest decrease in violent crime in the city, with a 12.5 percent decrease as of Dec. 13. The Third and Fourth Precincts also saw decreases, while the First and Second Precincts saw increases.
- Citywide, robbery, aggravated assault, and rape are all down between 2.8 and 6.7 percent from 2009. While the number of homicides is up since last year, 2008, 2009, and 2010 to-date have the three lowest homicide levels in 25 years (2009 was the lowest in more than 30 years).
Published Dec 20, 2010
