Minneapolis: closing in on Detroit on violent crime rates and yet so good at ignoring Minneapolis massive problems (St. Paul: crime rate, home)

[MattDen]

I have to admit after seeing Minneapolitans defend the northside of town's astronomical crime rate which causes Minneapolis to be one of the crime-ridden cities in the nation its absolutely shocking.

People in Minneapolis should stop being dismissive and come to terms that there city is one of the most violent cities in America rather then just saying oh well its just on the northside of the city so it doesnt impact them. Minneapolitans dont realize it doesnt look good when your violent crime rate is nearly 3 times the national average.

And I guess two people killed on Metro transit buses recently? Most transit agencies dont have that many instances in 10 years. Seriously, Minneapolis likes to talk about being sustainable and transit-friendly but how can they expect people to ride a bus system that is not safe.

Seriously, the mayor of Minneapolis Rybak is in over his head and obviously is unable to perform his job all he worries about is sending his kids to elite schools. He doesnt worry about the massive amount of violence that occurs in Minneapolis.

The police chief in Minneapolis also is horrible also. I remember last year I was on a light-rail train and the incompetant, unable Minneapolis police were literally harassing an old lady because she didnt have her train ticket.

Here is an idea why doesnt that lazy police chief (Tom Dolan) and his equally lazy police officers worry about the northside of town rather then sending his police out doing the easy work trolling for old-ladies who dont have rail tickets.

Sorry, but St. Paul is far preferable then crime-ridden, progressively decaying Minneapolis.

By the way just to tell you how astronomically violent the cesspool of bad leadership and apathy of bad leadership Minneapolis is. Colorado Springs my hometown which has the around the same population as Minneapolis. Colorado Springs had 12 homicides in 2005 compared to violence-infested Minneapolis usually has usually 40-60 and even has had 90+ in a year before!!!!!!

[Rawlings]

So what are you doing in Minneapolis, Mattden? Come home to the Springs, baby! I've never been big on Minneapolis. The whole "Minnesota Nice" is, well, you know...nice--but it doesn't beat what you get in Colorado.

I think a lot of it actually has to do with the fact that in Colorado everyone's got a gun--whereas in Minneapolis all the liberals have latte cups instead of glocks. Criminals in the Springs know that they're likely to get blown up--while in Minnesota they have free reign.

[tubes]

The police here are so focused on graffiti and street art that they seem to have forgotten about real crime. Hey officer, thanks for arresting me for posting this flyer but isn't someone being raped somewhere?

[Minnehahapolitan]

Well, I admit there is a problem on the northside, there has been for 70 years. There is violence in other neighborhoods too. A family was butchered in Waseca this spring.(Which wouldn't be a problem if I lived in Litchfield, thier murder rate isn't three times the national average) Make no mistake about it mattden, my city is no where near Detroit. And why did it even dawn on you to compare Mpls. to Colorado Springs. Mpls. has a metro population 6 times that of Colo. Springs. (smaller than Mobile and Wichita)
Did you know that New York had more murders than us last year? Mpls is no where near the most dangerous city in America, hyperboles are for poets and dreamers, not demographers. Yes, our Mayor is sub-par. Yes, there were two murders on a bus. But your comparisons just don't make a case.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by MattDen

People in Minneapolis should stop being dismissive and come to terms that there city is one of the most violent cities in America rather then just saying oh well its just on the northside of the city so it doesnt impact them. Minneapolitans dont realize it doesnt look good when your violent crime rate is nearly 3 times the national average.

Just because it's above-average doesn't make if one of the most violent cities in America. Compare Minneapolis to Atlanta, for example. I feel quite safe here in the northwest Atlanta suburbs just outside the 285 perimeter, and yet Atlanta proper (roughly the same size as Minneapolis) has three times the murder rate of Minneapolis according to most of the reports and statistics that I've seen.

While an increase in violent crime is a source for concern, you need to put it in perspective, determine the sources (and targets) of said crimes, and address the issue directly. Rhetoric here does very little to solve the problem.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Just because it's above-average doesn't make if one of the most violent cities in America. Compare Minneapolis to Atlanta, for example. I feel quite safe here in the northwest Atlanta suburbs just outside the 285 perimeter, and yet Atlanta proper (roughly the same size as Minneapolis) has three times the murder rate of Minneapolis according to most of the reports and statistics that I've seen.

While an increase in violent crime is a source for concern, you need to put it in perspective, determine the sources (and targets) of said crimes, and address the issue directly. Rhetoric here does very little to solve the problem.

Thanks for the important perspective, rc. Mpls and Atlanta do have similar population sizes, but are very different in so may ways. In spite of the rise in violence, the city of Mpls. still has many stable, livable working class and middle class neighborhoods. My impression of Atlanta is that the city is largely dominated by crime ridden, poverty neighborhoods, with just a few high income and regentrifying neighborhoods to offset the bad areas. Mpls has lots of bad guys, but on a per-capita basis, Atlanta wins hands down, as demonstrated by its violent crime stats.

[CTownNative]

I am from Cleveland Ohio and I can tell you that it is worse for crime than minneapolis and Atlanta.Cleveland had 120 murders last year more than Atlanta and Minneapolis.It also had a higher crime rate too.It was the 7th most dangerous city,Atlanta the 18th,and Minneapolis was not even in the top 25.Cleveland was also the #1 city for poverty in the United States.So as many problems as you think your city has there are cities that have far worse problems.And the reason Detroits talked about alot more for crime is because there is more crime there.Detroit only has very small pockets that are decent neighborhoods,and they are surrounded by neighborhoods that are terrible.When I here about problems in Minneapolis its always the North Side and that is just one part of the city.And I know that everyone will say that one bad part of a city will have an efect on the whole city well that is not true.I am currently living in Colorado Springs and the SouthEast side of the town is the worst side and it has no efect on the North side of town.And like I siad before some cities have worse problems.My hometown Cleveland like Detroit has very few neighborhoods that are decent.And most of the good neighborhoods in Cleveland,Detroit,Baltimore,Philadelphia,Memphis,a nd Flint can be surrounded by some of the worst neighborhoods in town.So then really there is no good neighborhoods there.

[rcsteiner]

Here are some supporting numbers to illustrate the differences:

Atlanta Population 483,108 (2006)
Homicides 2004=112 2005=89 2006=107

Cleveland Population 478,403 (2000)
Homicides 2004=86 2005=115 1006=119

Minneapolis Population 372,811 (2005)
Homicides 2004=54 2005=47 2006=59

Sources:
Wikipedia for Populations
http://www.policeforum.org/upload/Violent%20Crime%20Report%203707_140194792_39200714 3035.pdf (broken link)

[CTownNative]

So like I siad Cleveland is worse for Murders than either city.Altrough I also am sure that it is worse in other crime categories.But yeah if you add up all the Murders for those cities in these three years Cleveland had the most.It has also had more Murders in the past couple years than the ghetto I always here about Atlanta.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

I don't understand the title of this thread??? You claim that Minneapolis is closing in on Detroit??? Obviously, you have no idea what you are talking about. Detroit has roughly twice as many people as Minneapolis yet it has roughly 10 times as many murders as Minneapolis. Maybe if Minneapolis winds up with 300 or so murders a year would it then be comparable. Detroit typically ends up with 400-600 a year. Minneapolis typically 40-50. I have lived in both cities, Minneapolis is nothing like Detroit and it never will be.