Here's Yer Crime "Round Up"

Above, "paint over" of graffiti at 409 31st Ave. N. The Polish lady told me my "paint over" looked "like a bird." I told her, apologetically, I didn't have any gray paint with me, and I would procure some gray paint in the near future and do a better paint over. But at the moment it was important to...

...discourage further graffiti.

The writing on the wall apparently memorialized a guy who used to live in the house who (according to rumor in the neighborhood) died a short while after moving in, gunned down in some kind of incident. He didn't die at the property itself, but that is where individuals have memorialized him. Once there was a big pile of soggy teddy bears until somebody (not me) removed that stuff.

This block, I say, is for the living and for productive (i.e. non-criminal) elements of society.

I removed the single red candle, half-burned, which was left on the doorstep. It will not be wasted. It will be put to good use.

According to the Polish lady, some days ago somebody pulled into the yard behind this house and "sorted through" a truck full of items. When they left, they left a lot of crap in the yard. One more thing to take care of by the people who give a rip and pick up after themselves. And everybody else, too.

Other things which have happened in or near my area of operations, according to a recent crime summary emailed by the Minneapolis Police Department:

* At 6th and Lowry, a 46-year-old white female was robbed of her purse by three 18-22 year old black males, one of which she said took her medication away a few days earlier.

* 31st and 6th Street, Sunday at 3:45 pm. A 911 caller reported a male shooting randomly in the area and one caller reported seeing him with a gun shooting. Shot spotter confirmed the shots. As the only car able to respond was 220 dispatched, was requested to go city wide for squads to respond as it appeared there was an active shooter.

Some males were detained, but no gun was found. One resident said it sounded like a rifle range. Police were unable to determine if it really was shots, or firecrackers.

So, I ask, what were residents supposed to do while MPD was attempting to round up enough units to deal with an "active shooter?" Should we use our own weapons to take him on until police arrive?

I say send one squad--any expletive squad--and let the other squads arrive when they can. I've seen some police are armed with Colt AR-15s. At a minimum, they have their sidearms and the training to use 'em.

Is one squad care really not able to take on a single shooter, and so we have to deal with him by ourselves for a while? Or do police simply have that much confidence in us to handle it ourselves until they can arrive in force?