(I caught the now infamous defecating (suspected) hooker at the same corner I filmed her and company yesterday.)
Photos, videos, and blog post by Hans
Hookers on Penn Avenue North Grind My Gears!
But it's not just the hookers... it's the fact that after watching and calling... and calling and calling and calling... nothing seems to change. What must the good citizens of Nomi do to clean up this section of Penn Avenue? Until I hear some suggestions that actually work I feel my only course of action is to film or photograph as much suspicious activity as possible... so please, click Read More!
Don't blink or you'll miss the woman in the white du-rag walking south down Penn.
I don't think these guys are prostitutes, but I also don't think they're supposed to be hanging out on utility boxes across from Wallys Inconvenience Store.
Moments before this picture was taken these guys were sitting on the front steps of the boarded house they are 'play fighting' in front of. It was hard to tell if these guys were friends or enemies... but it doesn't make the neighborhood feel very nice either way. This photo was taken a couple blocks west of Wally's on Golden Valley Road.
I wonder... do these folks live in the house they are loitering in front of... or do they just claim 30th and Queen as their own?
Occasionally we do get to see some Police action, but does it have any effect on the future activities of the thugs and whores they interact with?
I don't see any criminal activity in any of your pictures, apart, I suppose, from being black.
ReplyDeleteAnd lay off the MPD. They have a lot of hard work to do and they are drastically underfunded.
Maybe if law enforcement got better support in this community there wouldn't be as much crime.
God Bless the 4th Precinct.
Why can't we put these women in cages and bring them downtown like we do with all the stray cats.. I bet they would put up less of a fight then the cats. Just dangle a 5 dolla bill in front of them and throw it in the cage and WHAM! bring her nasty ass in.
ReplyDelete@eyedea
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the most misogynistic things I've ever heard. You should be ashamed of your self.
Perhaps you're still young and naive, but women have gone through quite a bit to get where we are today. For centuries we were little more than property.
What a vile, hateful thing to say. You should be ashamed of yourself.
I am NOT ashamed of myself. I am ashamed for these women. Women like Alice Paul and Doris Stevens did not do what they did so that these women can go about making women look like helpless whores. Clearly you don't live in the areas where these "ladies of the evening" are. I'm sick of seeing crusty men in their WORK VEHICLES drop off women in front of MY house.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't give me that "they have no control" bullshit. They can go to the cops and ask for protection from their "pimps".(http://www.angelfire.com/mn/fjc/prostmn.html)
These women can go to temp agency and get a fucking real job. They are out there helping men cheat on their wives, spreading disease and lowering the standards for women everywhere. If anything I am ashamed for you for having sympathy for these women.
What am I to do to get these women off the streets? give them a packet with helpful hits on safe sex? and hope they read it? pray for them? I don't know what to do besides drive around and call the cops. I guess its cool, cause it doesn't cost me a dime to call 911 and I kinda enjoy cleaning up my neighborhood.
freedom vet:
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the lack of criminal activity in the photos... there's not much besides loitering, or perhaps trespassing... which is what makes this Decency Dead Zone so frustrating.
So-called open drug deals take place so quickly it's hard to know who's actually worth calling 911 on and who's just standing around taking up space.
Likewise with the hookers... there's nothing illegal about walking down the sidewalk or leaning up against a fence.
"lay off the MPD"? I didn't realize I had laid into them. I'm just pointing out the obvious frustration of citizens who don't want hookers and dealers working the street they live on.
I wholeheartedly support the MPD... but that doesn't mean I'm going to be complacent about hookers on Penn, or anywhere else in my neighborhood for that matter.
one more thing...
ReplyDeleteI don't take race bait.
I understand that my first comment was harsh. but you have to understand that I am VERY disappointed in women when they sell their bodies, that includes stripping. I am a firm believer in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
ReplyDelete#22: The society in which you live should help you to develop and to make the most of all the advantages (culture, work, social welfare) which are offered to you and to all the men and women in your country.
So I will continue to exercise that right to the fullest along with my first amendment right to freedom of speech.
There's only one reason ladies in our neighborhood are prostitutes--they're supporting a drug habit.
ReplyDeleteAddictions, unfortunately, aren't solved with drop-in centers.
Addicts seek help when they want help, and not a minute before. As anyone who has ever dealt with an addict in any area of their life knows, any attempt to help an addict before they decide they want to move on to something better is a waste of energy--or even counterproductive, if it delays the addict hitting rock bottom, where they might actually have an "aha" moment.
That's just the reality of addiction.
idHans is exactly right about why this issue is so tricky to get a handle on. It is not illegal to walk down a street. It's difficult to bust prostitution. But it can be done. I literally spent years of my life dealing with this and figuring how to do just that.
ReplyDeleteI lived a block south of Lake Street near 35W. Prostitution over there was totally off the hook. We made a HUGE impact in nearly eliminating it in that area. I'd say it has reduced by about 70-80 percent. What is really needed is someone who lives along that stretch with a front porch with good viewing vantage to step up and offer their location for neighborhood watch groups to utilize.
What we did in Central is just watch, watch, watch, watch until we knew all of the characters by face and knew quite a bit about their patterns, habits, etc. Of course we called 911 too. But then, just as we called on the hookers, we would basically watch and call on the cops behavior too. When they did good - got out of their squads, searched their purses, or if they made an arrest I would note the squad number and report the good behavior to the police dept. If they just "shooed" them on and didn't ID them I would contact their lieutenant and make sure he knew that too. If a cop "shooed" them on and they thought he was gone and went right back "to work." I would call 911 again. And again. And again. Until they were gone.
The night's activities were usually narratively summarized and sent out to a HUGE email list that included as many movers and shakers of the community as possible. We got a lot more response from the city once they were aware that EVERYONE WAS WATCHING.
It is important - no, it is essential - to have a fixed location to watch this from. Driving by, you only get a glimpse of what is going on. And there is not enough time to get to know behaviors, patterns, associations, etc. It is when you sit and one place, watch, and study that you realize there is even more going on than you even realized.
Once we got to know all of the faces, we had City Attorney Paula Kruchowski (who is absolutely AWESOME) meet with the neighbors at my dining room table, bringing with her mug shots of all of the arrests in our area in the last few months. We pointed to her the faces we knew. She then made sure that she personally prosecuted those cases and we developed a Central Clean Sheet.
Clean Sheets are online sites where chronic offenders photos are posted along with information about offenses, statuses of whether they are currently in custody or not, if so what their release dates would be, and when released what their conditions of probation would be. Paula liked to get probation conditions geographically restricting them from the area.
So for example, this one prostitute, Sheila Brown was on our Clean Sheet and was in the work house. Prior to her release, I would know the date of her release and that she was geographically restricted from our area. So on that date, I would keep my eyes out for her. I'd usually see them within a day or two. So instead of calling 911 and saying "There is a prostitute at the corner of ........ " I could say "Her name is Sheila Brown. She was just released on probation, is geographically restricted from this area and is in violation of her probation." MUCH more effective.
THAT is how you begin to get a handle on it. Honestly, I hate to be cynical, but driving by and 911 calling won't do anything. Before I developed the strategy above, I spent years making sometimes up to twenty 911 calls a day from my house without making a dent. But it HAS to start with a vantage point. It starts with canvasing that area, building rapport and networks, and find out who will step to the plate to offer up their porch for organized group watches. That is the first step.
What we did in Central is just watch, watch, watch, watch until we knew all of the characters by face and knew quite a bit about their patterns, habits, etc. Of course we called 911 too. But then, just as we called on the hookers, we would basically watch and call on the cops behavior too. When they did good - got out of their squads, searched their purses, or if they made an arrest I would note the squad number and report the good behavior to the police dept. If they just "shooed" them on and didn't ID them I would contact their lieutenant and make sure he knew that too.
ReplyDeleteThe night's activities were usually narratively summarized and sent out to a HUGE email list that included as many movers and shakers of the community as possible. We got a lot more response from the city once they were aware that EVERYONE WAS WATCHING.
It is essential to have a fixed location to watch this from. Driving by, you only get a glimpse of what is going on. And there is not enough time to get to know behaviors, patterns, associations, etc. It is when you sit and one place, watch, and study that you realize there is even more going on than you even realized.
Once we knew all of the faces, we had City Attorney Paula Kruchowski (who is AWESOME) meet with the neighbors at my dining room table, bringing with her mug shots of all of the arrests in our area. We pointed to her the faces we knew. She then made sure that she personally prosecuted those cases and we developed a Central Clean Sheet.
Clean Sheets are online sites where chronic offenders photos are posted along with information about offenses, statuses of whether they are currently in custody or not, if so what their release dates would be, and when released what their conditions of probation would be. Paula liked to get probation conditions geographically restricting them from the area.
So for example, this one prostitute, Sheila Brown was on our Clean Sheet and was in the work house. Prior to her release, I would know the date of her release and that she was geographically restricted from our area. So on that date, I would keep my eyes out for her. I'd usually see them within a day or two. So instead of calling 911 and saying "There is a prostitute at the corner of ........ " I could say "Her name is Sheila Brown. She was just released on probation, is geographically restricted from this area and is in violation of her probation." MUCH more effective.
Neither the Mayor, nor the Council, and I am including our very own Don Samuels in this assertion, are serious about changing North Minneapolis.
ReplyDeleteWe have been duped.
We have been cheated.
M. Clinton...
ReplyDeleteThank you. Your suggestions are exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to hear... very informative.
That you stooges are even seriously discussing a prostitute drop in center is conclusive proof that North is doomed for many more years to come.
ReplyDeleteAt least its useful keeping all the vice and losers in one place.
Prostitutes and Penn Ave!
ReplyDeleteEvery three months or so Christ Satisfies Ministries drives up and down Penn Avenue trying to get these prostitutes off the street.
I being an participant in this action talk to these ladies, give them biblical tracks and give them other options then the dangers of prostitution. Majority of the women that stroll Penn Ave actually are trying to take care of their kids, pay rent, bills and put food on their table--a few even work mediocre jobs that don't really pay shit.
I am not saying that their actions are ok, because they are not, but start talking to congress, major, senate and other lobbyist that are supposed to "provide more jobs", Obama's Administration have yet to provide the proficiency in any area to help clean up our streets.
Have you talked to the prostitutes, asked them not to stand on your corner? I have! I haven't seen one on my block since. Johns come from all walks as well, I see Minneapolis City workers picking them up, Carrier Vans and regular joe smoes.
Minneapolis Police force is extremely over budget as it is, and there doesn't even look like a break is near. You want safe neighborhoods you have to be active in your neighborhood--not be a vigilante--take pictures, videos give it to some one like oh, I don't know Johnny Northside, Minneapolis Crime Watch to post on their blogs.... submit it to your local police office.
Walk up to them and ask them...to please move....
Yeah some are crack heads, but if you want something to do about it then make the change.