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Everyone wants progress.
As Minneapolis police chief, I know that progress requires change. The status quo cannot continue. A key component of my mission has been strengthening the relationship of the Minneapolis Police Department with our community. This is imperative to creating public safety.
I have never written a commentary for the Star Tribune before. I respect the media and understand that negative press is inevitable. But after reading "After crackdown, crime 'had to go somewhere'" (Oct. 15), I needed to respond.
Narcotics-related deaths and overdoses are up in Minneapolis and across the country. That's no secret. The rise of fentanyl use has been disastrous. Studies have shown that where there's fentanyl, gun violence follows.
Addiction and drug issues cannot be tackled by policing alone. It takes investment — medical assistance, social aid, community buy-in. Not only does the MPD work with other law enforcement agencies to hold accountable the 1% committing shootings and violent crimes, but we also partner with community groups, especially on the North Side, to deter future offenders.
Attorney General Keith Ellison took the lead to hold business owners responsible for what happens on their property. Groups like A Mother's Love, We Push for Peace, 21 Days of Peace and individual residents themselves have worked hard to take back this neighborhood. They save lives.
In my year as chief, I have spent time getting to know the North Side. When I walk the streets, I see a community striving for vibrancy. Local business owners want to thrive, and residents take pride in where they live.
Historically, north Minneapolis has faced innumerable injustices like redlining, racial covenants in deeds and segregation. The negative stereotypes about the North Side are untrue, and stories like what was printed in the Star Tribune reinforce these negative racial stereotypes and further malign the community.
Because of the intense focus on this small piece of geography, some degree of displacement occurred, but it's minimal and the community benefits outweigh the costs.
The crime statistics published by the Star Tribune are deceiving and do not match the reality on the ground. The article discusses an "uptick in crime" in north Minneapolis, but that's simply not true. The data presented by the Star Tribune lumped together "violence, gunfire, property crimes, drug use and other incidents." This year, the Jordan neighborhood, which encompasses the N. 21st Street and Fremont Avenue N. area covered in the article, has seen a 33% reduction in shots-fired calls, a 21% reduction in shooting victims and a 14% decrease in robberies.
The Hawthorne neighborhood, home to Merwin Liquors, has also seen a reduction in crime this year: a 36% reduction in shots-fired calls, a 52% drop in gunshot victims and robberies are down 23%.
Only when you add in "drug use and other incidents," are calls to the area up. But those numbers include both overdoses and other incidents that are not crimes. Auto thefts are up in Minneapolis and nationwide due to a manufacturers' negligence allowing Kias and Hyundais to be easily stolen.
Aggregating such a wide variety of calls for service minimizes issues that truly impact the community. It ignores the actual decrease in violent crime. It also fails to contextualize that auto thefts are up in this area, but do not differ substantially from any other corner of the city.
The reduction in gun violence in this community is important and undeniable. Gun violence is killing our residents, and it tears families and neighborhoods apart. It has a profound effect on our children, disturbing sleep, diminishing academic performance and making it harder to achieve better health and economic outcomes. Gun violence is the linchpin that traps kids in poverty. The reduction in North Side gun violence — without significant displacement — saves lives and gives our kids a chance at a better future.
Thanks to the collective work of law enforcement and community partners, 70 fewer families have had a loved one hit by a bullet on the North Side this year. In one year, I call that progress. And we will to continue to do everything we can to eliminate gun violence in our communities — because if we don't, nothing else matters.
Brian O'Hara is chief of the Minneapolis Police Department.
