Image from Drew Heinkel's Facebook page, blog post by John Hoff
An involved and helpful North Minneapolis citizen sent me some interesting information about 3823 Dupont Ave. N., the address where Drew Heinkel was killed in what one police official said looks like a case of self-defense. Here's the list of 911 calls from 1/1/2008 through 2/22/2010, a total of 11...
Date/time Problem Disposition Case # Apt./Flr.
4/29/2008 7:16:51 PM Person with a Gun Gone on Arrival 08-121661
5/13/2008 9:59:01 PM Suspicious Vehicle Tagged 08-137835
6/8/2008 12:31:41 AM Threats Report 08-168714
10/7/2008 2:24:49 AM Burglary Dwlng In Progress Booking 08-310213
11/13/2008 2:27:51 PM Domestic Abuse Report Only Report 08-350357
3/26/2009 9:50:59 PM Unwanted Person Advised 09-086585
4/30/2009 4:26:22 PM Domestic with Weapons Booking 09-126153
2/13/2010 10:59:10 PM Stabbing Report 10-041549
2/15/2010 12:15:05 PM Disturbance Information 10-042587
2/15/2010 4:38:58 PM Miscellaneous Report 10-042774
2/15/2010 5:05:04 PM Recover Property Assist 10-042794
(Blogging from Ridgedale Public Library, in Minnetonka)
I dunno if I'd call this a "hotbed" of 911s. This is typical Northside stuff; every block has at least one house like this. I don't see any reports of search warrants executed here. What's so surprising is that these landlords NEVER evict tenants for criminal activity until the city forces them to do so. I understand landlords with "trouble properties" are sometimes forced to attend landlord classes that are described to me as laughable. Why aren't there stricter rules for landlords with long histories of signing on criminal tenants?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I disagree that every block has one house like this. My block doesn't have a house like this. The block where my friend Peter Teachout used to live doesn't have a house like this. Anymore.
ReplyDeleteI say it is a hotbed of 911 calls as compared to other houses where, gee, years go by and nobody is forced to call 911...except on the PROBLEM house down the block.
And, yeah, I agree we have some lousy landlords who really need to be brought to a higher level of property management. What the city does about those landlords is what the city does...or doesn't...do.
But here on Johnny Northside, we like to name 'em and tell the stories, in detail. Keep the info coming, folks. JNS (heart) JNS Blog readers and contributors.
Oh, by the way, the fact this kind of house is relatively routine in some (not all) parts of North Minneapolis is itself worrisome.
ReplyDeleteHello, somebody was KILLED HERE IN COLD BLOOD. So if we have a good number of houses with this kind of steady 911 intensity...
Shouldn't we be quite worried about those problem properties? Shouldn't we want to do something?
Maybe the state needs to become more landlord friendly. It is VERY difficult to evict for cases outside of non-payment or obvious damage etc. I suppose if you had the tenant arrested during one of these calls, but for non-arrest calls it is often the judge that tells the landlord to jump in the Jordan pond.
ReplyDeleteIf the landlords bothered to perform background checks in the first place, they wouldn't be in this position. It seems the landlords with bad tenants are simply the landlords who don't care enough to get good ones. The landlord makes his money while my neighborhood suffers.
ReplyDeleteAbout landlords doing background checks and avoiding the whole mess, that is not necessarily true. John, as you know I have said a million times, the people that cause problems at a rental are people who are not on the lease, not supposed to live there.
ReplyDeleteFor example, we don't know everything that happened at 3823 that lead to a homicide, but we know one guy who didn't live there was stabbed to death, and it sounds like it was done by another guy who doesn't live there either. So no background check would have prevented this.
I say it's mostly about the expectations that the landlord establishes, and then enforcing those zero tolerence expectations. So a good landlord needs to
1) provide a great house and great service that a tenant will WANT to be allowed to keep
2) be willing to kick out, non-renew, evict a tenant who seems to be crossing lines that will/could eventually lead to something tragic.
3) Get all up in the tenant's business about who is living there, who are they letting hang out there etc etc.
4)Establish very close working relationships with the police dept, crime prevention and the neighbors, so that way the tenant will feel like every single breathe they take will get back to the landlord.
It's alot of work. Trust me, I know.
I don't accept the idea that no background check can prevent this type of thing. People with issues hang out with other folks who have issues. Get decent tenants in the first place, and they won't have so many indecent associates.
ReplyDeleteIt may not always work, but I don't know if landlords are, well, trying hard enough. Some of them clearly are not.
Here is some information coming to me by email. I find it dubious and have no way to confirm the person emailing is connected to anybody or anything having to do with the actual facts surrounding the death of Drew Heinkel.
ReplyDeleteBut here you go.
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The story I'm getting is that the victim went to the house and was then stabbed with a small knife. After the initial stabbing the victim managed to get away from his attacker and then collapse on the ground outside of the house. The assailant then went into the kitchen and retrieved a larger kitchen knife and went back outside and continued to stab the victim.
Now if this holds true then this is clearly not a case of Justifiable Force. For Justification of Force there must be four points meet 1) Ability 2)Opportunity 3)Jeopardy 4) Preclusion. You have a law degree, you of all people should know that to claim Justifiable Force a person can not go back after the initial attack to finish the job.
Thank you for pointing out my spelling error scene not seen.
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JNS says: You're welcome.
Nicole, Drew, and Misti are all drug addicts. Misti and Drew had a problem with meth, they used nicole for her oxycontin prescription when they needed to come down after being up for days or weeks. Drew was not a good person. He used to beat and rape Misti. He was also abusive to her son. Both of these girls are better off without him. I don't mean disrespect to the family or to say that he is better of dead but the GIRLS are better off now that he is no longer in their lives.
ReplyDeleteSomething else to think about is that at least some of those 911 calls were for violence at that house. Regardless of anything else, if I knew someone so violent that 911 had to be called numerous times, that person would no longer be among my acquaintance. There a folks who would say this is "blaming the vicitim." I say this is common sense.
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for common sense!
ReplyDeleteEviction from the house, the neighborhood, and North Minneapolis!