Stevens Square Community Organization: Life in the heart of Minneapolis

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Next SSCO Safety Committee meeting:

Thursday, November 20, at 6:00 p.m.

Loring Nicollet Center, 1925 Nicollet Ave

For more information, visit www.sscoweb.org or call Dave at (612) 8742840.

SSCO SAFETY COMMITTEE

Notes from the meeting of October 23, 2008, at 1925 Nicollet Ave.

PRESENT Michele McGaughey and Ken Strobel, cochairs;

Bobbi Harrington and Jean Schwalen, Hennepin County

Community Probation; Chelsea Adams, Minneapolis Police 5 th Precinct; Lisa Godon, City Attorney’s office; Molly

McCarthy, Stevens Supportive Housing; Don Lepper, Lydia Apartments; John Martin, UPi Property Management; Rob

Helmerichs, Rand Management; Jeanne Krueger, Charles Rosensteel, John Ryser, Bonnie Bona, Judy Austin, Arlene

Storandt, Mary Gunderson, Melinda Langer, Laura Blue Bird, Eddie Chambers, Betty Winston, Jerry Paulson, and SSCO

safety coordinator Dave Delvoye

ANNOUNCEMENTS

§ The City is seeking applicants for seven appointed positions on the new Neighborhood and Community Engagement

Commission. Applications were distributed. The application deadline is November 19.

§ Fall Clean Sweep, part 2, October 25, 10 a.m. to noon, meet in Stevens Square Park.

§ City Attorney Susan Segal will attend the committee meeting on November 20.

§ SSCO community meeting, November 22, 10 a.m. to noon, Plymouth Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave. On the agenda:

shifting NRP program income dollars to community strategies to keep SSCO fiscally viable and continue to fund

neighborhood programs.

§ Longtime

Stevens Square day beat Officer Jeff Hall is transferring to the 1 st Precinct. Committee members

acknowledged his contributions to the neighborhood and signed a “thank you” card. Officer Deb Hubert will remain on

the Stevens Square beat and will be joined by Officer Jodene Malloy.

COMMUNITY PROSECUTOR REPORT – Assistant City Attorney Lisa Godon

Godon distributed copies of the CLEAN sheet, a list with mugshots of the 5 th Precinct’s top 30 offenders which is updated

weekly with court conditions, appearance dates, and warrant and custody information. The CLEAN sheet is available at

www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/about/docs/Pct5CLEAN.pdf Godon said that about five changes will be made to the list

by the next committee meeting. She updated the group on a number of CLEAN offenders, including Theoplias Howlett,

Pamela Beaulieu, and Whittier offender Kaisar Nur, who is in custody on $350,000 bail on charges of 2 nd degree murder,

aggravated assault, and aggravated robbery of person. The coordinator said that, in a followup

to last month’s

discussion, CLEAN offender Earlis Robinson received the maximum 90day

sentence for a charge of consuming alcohol

in public, which met the request made in SSCO’s community impact statement. Robinson will be released from the

workhouse on December 5. The coordinator passed around copies of SSCO’s community impact statement regarding

CLEAN offender Kyle Kawakami, who was arrested five times in the neighborhood during a twomonth

period this year.

Kawakami goes to court on November 19. Godon spoke about the A&E network TV show “The First 48”, which recently

featured a story about the Minneapolis police investigation of a June homicide – the victims were a mother and her son –

in the Kingfield neighborhood in which two juvenile males have been charged.

COMMUNITY PROBATION REPORT – Probation Officers Bobbi Harrington and Jean Schwalen

Harrington reported that she’s been in court a lot lately, and that about 90% of her clients are facing felony charges for

violent offenses such as aggravated robbery, 1 st degree burglary, and aggravated assault. In response to a question,

Schwalen said that their caseloads have increased recently by about ten clients each, although most end up in custody.

MINNEAPOLIS POLICE REPORT – Crime Prevention Specialist Chelsea Adams

Adams said that the following violent crimes were reported in the neighborhood in September:

§ 1 rape, which proved to be unfounded.

§ 2 robberies of person, one on September 10 at about 9 p.m. at 18 th & Stevens, in which a suspect demanded money

and hit the victim on the head with a wooden stick, escaping with a bag of groceries; the other on September 13 at

about 5:55 p.m. at the BP Station, 2000 3 rd Ave, in which two suspects, implying that they had a gun, robbed a victim

who was pumping gas.

Adams said that no aggravated assaults were reported. She distributed information about crime prevention and law

enforcement resources which are available online and via email.

Adams announced that a free personal safety

workshop sponsored by the 2 nd Precinct is scheduled for November 1, 10 a.m. to noon, at Northeast Middle School, 2955

NE Hayes St. She said that 5 th Precinct SAFE is planning a home security workshop, the details of which are not yet

2

available. Adams asked the committee to think about what next year’s neighborhood policing plan should contain; she will

present more information about that in November or December. Adams said that Part 1 crime in Stevens SquareLoring

Heights is down by about 21% year to date compared to 2007, with robbery of person down 59%, burglary down 30%,

theft down 12%, and motor vehicle theft down 43%. She said that aggravated assault, including domestics, has increased

from 15 in 2007 to 25 this year, and that reports of rape have doubled, from 3 to 6, although none of the incidents involved

stranger rape.

The coordinator made available copies of Google maps and lists of arrests for livability crimes in an area encompassing

Stevens SquareLoring

Heights and the section of Whittier from Franklin Ave to 24 th St. For the period from September

22 to October 19, there were 36 alcoholrelated

arrests (57 last year), 9 narcoticsrelated

arrests (21 last year), and 1

prostitutionrelated

arrest (1 last year). Year to date, there have been 322 alcoholrelated

arrests (346 last year), 147

narcoticsrelated

arrests (181 last year), and 17 prostitutionrelated

arrests (11 last year). The coordinator made available

copies of Google maps and summaries of police reports of incidents and arrests in specific areas. For the period from

September 22 to October 19, 23 reports were generated in the Clinton sector (3 rd Ave to 4 th Ave, I94

to Franklin Ave) and

54 in the Nicollet corridor (LaSalle Ave/Blaisdell Ave to 1 st Ave, I94

to 24 th St). All of these reports, updated weekly, are

available in text format on the crime information page at www.sscoweb.org To receive emailed

or printed copies of the

Google maps, contact Dave at 8742840

or dave_ssco@yahoo.com

PRIORITY CONCERNS / HOT SPOTS / CHRONIC OFFENDERS

§ 1904 1 st Ave – The manager and police are working to resolve complaints about a prostitute working out of this

building.

§ 1912 3 rd Ave – There was a drugrelated

aggravated robbery and 2 nd degree assault with a dangerous weapon,

including a shot fired, in this building on October 7.

§ 1926 3 rd Ave – There is a complaint about a person who doesn’t belong in this building who was arrested for warrants

for disorderly conduct and assault while police were investigating an apartment burglary. Options to deal with the

problem included trespassing the person (via the state statute form and/or the city ordinance and sign), posting or

distributing the person’s photo to residents, and informing tenants in a letter that letting others into the building is a

lease violation.

§ It appears that the problems previously reported at 1801 1 st Ave, 1801 2 nd Ave, and 1807 2 nd Ave have either been

resolved or have subsided.

§ A community member expressed concern about an incident on a Metro Transit bus which threatened to turn violent

and endanger passengers. Others suggested that the bus driver should have contacted Metro Transit police to deal

with the problem.

§ There was a short discussion about the responsibilities of landlords to enforce crimefree

lease addenda regarding

tenants’ guests who commit crimes or cause problems. A property manager stated that he was strongly in agreement

and pointed to the successful record of his company in resolving such problems.

§ Laundry room breakins

– A number of apartment building managers have reported recent incidents of laundry room

burglary, damage to coin operated washers and dryers, and theft of coins from the machines. Addresses include

1926 3 rd Ave, 1816 Stevens Ave, 1830 Stevens Ave, and 1900 1 st Ave. Some of the crimes have produced no visible

evidence of forced entry or tampering with security doors. One of the persons previously arrested for this type of

crime is in prison, but another has just been released. There was a discussion of measures property managers could

take to discourage laundry room breakins,

including collecting coins frequently and posting a sign to that effect;

switiching to machines operated by cards or tokens; raising rents and providing free use of the machines to tenants;

and installing video surveillance cameras.

BLOCK PATROL REPORT – Judy Austin

Austin reported that, from September 26 to October 22, 13 Block Patrol volunteers participated in 14 shifts, contributing a

total of 74.75 hours. Two shifts were cancelled. A Block Patrol team attended the 5 th Precinct’s personal safety workshop

on October 16 at Washburn High School. Block Patrol also participated in the Fall Harvest Festival on October 18.

Volunteers sold 90 cans or bottles of soda and water, making a profit of $71.10 Austin shared some stories from the

Block Patrol log.

SAFETY COORDINATOR REPORT – Dave Delvoye

The coordinator reported that Inspector Arneson informed him on October 22 that the feasibility study for the police

safety/security camera system along Nicollet Ave has been delayed. The City’s Business Information Services (BIS) has

put the request on hold until 1) it approves a longterm

strategy for video monitoring and 2) selects a vendor which will

integrate all of the existing and future camera systems. The coordinator said that, once these tasks are completed, BIS

will be able to provide accurate cost estimates for the proposed Nicollet Ave system.

SSCO Safety Committee minutes, October 2008, prepared by Dave Delvoye.