The divide between the citizens and the police grows a little wider (Editorial by JNS blog guest author "Forseti")

Stock photo provided by John Hoff for this blog post by guest author, the officers
depicted are actually St. Paul police officers. 

Blog post by guest author "Forseti"

While there are many frustrations with the police on the north side, I find many of them should belong with the city management (council, mayor, police chief).  Recently however, I observed something that was a complete lack of judgment on the part of the responding officer.  Several calls to 911 had been placed by residents reporting a loud party complete with 4 people in a vehicle parked in front of the house next door. Several people came from the party with glasses in their hands, got into the vehicle and were lighting and passing something around. There was one individual who urinated in the middle of the street. 

When the police showed up around 20 minutes later (not a bad response time for that time of night on a non-violent incident), they proceeded, from their squad to tell the people from the car that they “should go back inside as their neighbor was pissed at them.”  Now since the speakers in the party house were on the side of the house they were parked in front of, they quickly placed the blame on that neighbor for making the call...

JNS Exclusive: MPD Makes Arrest in Home Burglary Turned Murder of Brianna Jones

stock photo from JNS blog

An exclusive tip to the JNS blog informs us that the MPD Violent Criminal Apprehension Team has made an arrest in the pre-Christmas murder of Brianna Jones.

Big Kudos to the MPD and their special ops teams like the VCAT. 

Brianna Jones came home to 1518 Emerson to find her house was in the process of being burglarized.  And she was shot in the head.

Turns out the burglar turned murderer was a friend of Brianna's boyfriend.  Nice guy (sarcasm font).

The shooter lived with his girlfriend in St Paul.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

 

NoMi Neighbor Says "Oh Hell NO" to Copper Thief...

Photo shared by Drother, Blog Post by Nomi Passenger

Just for the sake of sharing the success story, not to mention also to bump down the picture of those bad boys with guns, (see previous blog post) here is some good news being shared around the Jordan neighborhood listserv.

An observent and protective neighbor, who I like to call Drother, shared the above photo and reported the following:

"Copper thief just got away! Greasy white male 40 yrs old, shoulder  length brown hair, 200 lbs wearing blue hooding and blue sweat pants just tried to break into 2640 Sheridan. I chased him over 2 fences but he got away. He left the bike he was riding and some copper in his bag (see photo). If the bike was stolen from you call the 4th precinct. "

Good job, Drother! Every block needs a Drother or two.

So, like he says, if you think that's your bike (or copper, lol) call the 4th.  And if you can, put the word out on the copper thief communicaiton wire ~ "Not in this neighborhood!"

(Do Not Click "Read More")

"Adult" Car Wash Has Sprung Up on Broadway

(click on image to read, this image added as addendum)

Well, as you can see from the above photos, Broadway has a new business. An "adult" car wash. This is the term being used by revitalizers along Broadway, and let me tell you, this is not a welcomed new business.


As a matter of fact, word is going out through the community that people are being asked to call 9-1-1 if they see this "adult" car wash open for business on Broadway, or for that matter through out the northside. Who knows where it might pop up next.


The above photos were taken this past Saturday, July 30th. Broadway was a busy place; a busy summer weekend, an art crawl along Broadway (FLOW), and some kind of entrepreneurs who wanted to rid NoMi of all the "dirty" cars, pun intended.

For the record, the photos taken at the time were never intended for this blog, just sort of an instant reaction while enjoying FLOW and seeing this at the corner of Broadway and Fremont. My camera was in my hand as I traveled around with friends, and the scene at Bro-Fre was quite unbelievable. And not in a good way.

You see, what the still photos don't capture, is the animation and motion these girls were going through. A lot of bouncing. A lot of dramatic gestures and poses. I'm surprised there wasn't a major car crash. We actually witnessed a motorcycle driver who was so captivated he veered across three lanes of traffic, headed diagonally towards the street gutter in front of Hooks. He managed to focus and correct his bike just in the nick of time. It could have been really ugly.

The three photos shared here are the tame ones. Several more are much more risque and not suitable to share. As you can see in one of the photos above, there is a mom and three children sitting on the bus stop bench directly in front of the "adult" car wash. The picture may not show it, but the mom did not look amused as she sat there waiting for her bus. The bottom photo sort of shows one gal doing a rather dramatic gesture as she wrung out the soapy water from her car wash sponge.

Again, keep in mind the photos don't capture the motion. There was one gal doing such a dramatic dance, well, I can't quite describe it, there was just a lot of bouncing. Everywhere.

So, the issues that have come up around this "adult" car wash are:

Q: Is it even legal? A: Some important folks are working on that. As of right now, people are asked to call 9-1-1 to report it. I'll share a more definitive answer when I receive it.

Q: Is this what we want in our community? A: I guess it depends on who you ask. Even the man on the yellow motorcycle might say no, I'm not sure he can handle this new business. OK, all jokes aside, speaking for myself and based on the looks of the bus stop mom's face, my answer is not only no, but Oh *&%$ NO! These girls belong at a private car show, or a beach festival or some kind of side show, man-fest, concert or whatever. Not on the corner of a residential community on any given day or afternoon they choose to "work." A lot of the kids in this community don't have a strong support structure to learn the difference between what is appropriate behavior for appropriate ages and public conduct. These gals and their scantily-clad-dramatic-car-wash-strip-show will do nothing but cause disgust and confusion and all kinds of unpredictable reactions from folks of all ages and backgrounds.

Q: What can be done about it? A: We'll let the authorities figure that one out, and for now just keep spreading the word that the authorities want to be notified when this is going on. Call 9-1-1 and report the "adult" car wash. At the very least someone can make them put on some clothes and chill out on the dramatic bouncing and gyrating.

Oh, and boycott the business. Word is the owner of the gas station there at Bro-Fre put out an ad on craigslist for these girls. Could be just a rumor, but it's probably got some truth to it. I'll give an update when more info is shared. Let the owner know that as a community we do not approve of this type of public display of, of...of BOUNCING SKIN and it's not a healthy thing for our community.

Stay tuned for updates...

Update #1: I easily found the craigslist ad and added it as an image above. It's not clear who created the craigslist ad, the business owner of the gas station may not have, but that business owner is obviously cooperating with the concept.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

5th Ward City Councilman Don Samuels Gives Weekly Address: Crime Reduction in North Minneapolis

Video by 5th Ward Aide Steve Hogan, blog post by Nomi Passenger

Check out this week's video update from City Councilman Don Samuels about crime reductions throughout north Minneapolis.

As Johnny Northside would say "God Bless the 4th Precint".

Thanks city staffers, police officers and block club leaders who have helped reduce the crime for our community.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

Inspector Mike Martin Gives Post Tornado Update

Video from MPD, blog post by Nomi Passenger

Inspector Mike Martin, Commander of the MPD 4th Precinct, discusses the aftermath of the Tornado and address false information about crime. Two residents thank the volunteers and workers who have helped.

(Do Not Click Read More)

Have We Said GBT4P Lately?

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Image from the Minnesota Independent.

For readers unfamiliar with that abbreviation, it's JNS-speak for "God Bless the 4th Precinct." And today's reason for that comes from an incident kitty-corner to the Hawthorne office. Some work was being done at 3000 Colfax Ave N when assailants robbed the workers of their wallets and cell phones. These criminals weren't too smart though. They approached AND left on foot. The soft snow led to perfect conditions that made the MPD's job of tracking them almost too easy. The assailants were caught and the victims had their property returned to them by the end of the day.

Do not click "read more" but do spread the word...GBT4P!

Sharing Thanksgiving With Minneapolis Police...

Photos By John Hoff, and contributed photos xoxo

The tradition is not quite as old as Thanksgiving itself, but for several years residents of the Fourth Precinct have been putting on a meal for the police officers as a show of gratitude. Joan Thom, head of the Public Safety Committee in the Hawthorne Neighborhood, and her husband, Len Lewis, as well as "Buzzy" Bohn have been the ones to take the lead in putting on the annual dinner.

The dinner doesn't happen just once on Thanksgiving, but serves all three shifts. Numerous Northside residents contribute items to the dinner and are involved in its preparation. I don't have a list of all the different residents and their contributions, but off the top of my head I know Housing Director Jeff Skrenes made an incredible fruit salad and Jordan resident Megan Goodmundson contributed pumpkin pies. Oh, do I know about those pies. For two days, I had to transport those pies around, careful not to crumble the crust in the slightest bit. Megan called them her "police pies" and reminded me not to commit (even by accident) "police pie brutality."

Megan was preparing to make homemade pies, but when she saw pies for $2.88 at Cub Foods on West Broadway, she was all, like, "I can't MAKE pies that cheap." So, being a frugal Nomi homie, she bought the pies instead. This was Megan's first year at the dinner, and she says she wants to go every year from now on.

This was also the first year I attended, along with my 12-year-old son, during the "mid-shift" dinner...

Two of the officers at mid-shift were not from the Fourth Precinct, but with a K9 unit that sees action all over the city. Here's video from YouTube of one of these officers in action, click here to see Officer Edwards and her four-legged partner, Chief.

One Fourth Precinct officer was a former member of a SWAT unit and not only chatted with us at length, but also posed for a photo with my son. Another officer had a lot of stripes and medals on his uniform, which he jokingly referred to as "bling."

My son took note of an interesting display case, full of old and unusual weapons taken off suspects.

In chatting with the officers, two themes emerged. The Fourth Precinct appreciated the show of gratitude (or, to put it another way, they were grateful for the show of appreciation) and, secondly, there was common agreement things have really turned around in North Minneapolis.

The officers were there long enough to eat a meal and chat a bit, but then they went right back out on the street to keep everybody else safe as citizens enjoyed their own Thanksgiving. One young officer remarked to his partner that he was going to hit the "stair climber" machine before leaving, so he could work off part of the dinner.

That's part of the reason why he's a police officer, and I'm just a blogger.

This Is Why We Need More Hmong Police Officers in the 4th Precinct!

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

On Monday I was driving to work and I saw a car that had been totaled and spun around facing the wrong way on Emerson. I thought about calling it in to 311 to say that we had a vehicle that obviously wasn't drivable and needed to be towed away. But a little voice seemed to speak up in my head that I should hold off. I couldn't say why, but I've learned to trust that intuition. It's a good thing I did, because tonight at the Hawthorne Crime Prevention and Family Safety meeting, I found out what happened...

ADDENDUM: The accident happened early on Saturday morning. While it has been described as a "hit and run," the vehicle that crashed into the parked car did NOT drive away. However, the driver and any other passengers did flee on foot and have not been caught.

ADDENDUM: See comment section for a post from an officer who responded to the call. It seems the officer did everything right, including getting one of the night shift Hmong officers to come and translate. Perhaps the confusion was more around the bewilderment any of us would feel if our car was totaled at 2 a.m. in this way. Still, I stand by my claim that we need more Hmong police officers in the 4th Precinct on the day shift, but I am deeply grateful for the service of the men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department.

A Hmong family who lives at 26th and Emerson owns the vehicle in question. They were woken up at about two in the morning (it's unclear if this happened at 2 a.m. on Sunday or Monday) to a loud crash. Their beautiful car was the victim of a hit-and-run by a driver they say was drunk.

Two thoughts immediately sprang to mind upon hearing the story and knowing what the vehicle looked like: thank GOD nobody was hurt, and how in the WORLD does the other car manage to drive away from something like that?

The family did call 911, and the police did show up. But it seems that the response was not helpful enough. I spoke with one relative and from what I can gather, no translation services were offered. Organizers from CURA are helping us and the family work with the insurance company because-surprise!-they don't have Hmong translation either.

About a month ago, a meeting was held at Farview Park where, based on a report, we asked CMs Samuels and Johnson to help get a Hmong police officer in the 4th Precinct - and one that works the day shift. We know the steps to make that happen won't be easy, but we need to be intentional about doing everything we can to accomplish this.

In the meantime, this family needs a police visit from someone who speaks Hmong or has a translator. It was brought up at our Crime and Safety meeting that Hawthorne sponsored some business cards that read, "I do not speak English. Please call ______, _______, or ________ for translation in (insert language)." We were asked if we could start this program up again as a building block for police relations with the Hmong community, and we will do that.

I want to make it clear that I am not blaming anyone except the hit-and-run driver, but I am emphatically stating a need in Hawthorne and the 4th Precinct and I hope that we can make this happen.