Several communities in the Twin Cities have been affected by rising crime rates, including areas that have previously been relatively crime-free.
Among the areas seeing a rise in crime is Edina, and the city's mayor, Jim Hovland, joined News Talk 830 WCCO's Paul Douglas to talk about what the city is doing to address the issues.
On Tuesday night, the city held a community meeting to address the issues they are facing, and Hovland said it went better than they expected it would.
"I would say it was an incredible meeting last night," Hovland said, sharing that his city has been a hotspot for criminal activity as of late.
Hovland shared that right now, there has been an increase in "mobile criminals" coming into the community and looking for areas to steal from, often taking vehicles or stealing from them.
The mayor expected that to be the main focus of the meeting, but it quickly changed for the better.
"It turned into, I would say, kind of a metro-wide discussion," Hovland said. "There were a number of people there from Minneapolis, from as far away as Plymouth. People had been victims of this type of crime and just needed a place to express their voice, and they found it last night in Edina."
Hovland shared that the city is making efforts to combat the rise in crime with technological equipment the city can use to coordinate with homeowners that use electronic doorbells that record video.
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The city is also bringing in more workers to back up staff employees doing administrative work in the city's police department so that more officers can be out on the street, patrolling neighborhoods, Hovland said.
Hovland acknowledged that this will require both an offensive and defensive strategy.
"We're telling homeowners, 'Make sure you got that side door to your garage locked. Make sure your garage door is down. Make sure your cars are in your garage if possible,'" Hovland said.
When it comes to the thefts and burglary the city is seeing, Hovland said it's coming from those who may be a little too trusting of others.
"Folks have been trusting; it's like the old days when… I grew up," Hovland said. "People think they can leave their keys in their car and leave their house door open. It's just not the case anymore, sadly. Every car we've had stolen in Edina, the keys were in the car. So we're telling people you got to play defense here."
When it comes to being defensive, Hovland said to be aware of your surroundings, look out to see if someone is following you on your way home from the store, don't leave valuables in your car, and make smart decisions.
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On offense, the city is working on a solution with other cities throughout the metro, as Hovland said he is getting contacted by mayors all over.
The mayor of Eden Prairie is hosting a meeting on Friday with representatives from Edina, Plymouth, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and Bloomington to discuss what can be done to fix the problem at hand.
When it comes to "see something, say something," Hovland encouraged residents to step up and report wrongdoings they see in their communities.
"We'll take those calls at 9-1-1. We want people to trust their gut. If something seems unusual or strange in your neighborhood, call us," Hovland said. "Call your local police department. Call 9-1-1. We want to be able to check these things out, it may be a benign situation, but if there is criminal activity afoot, the quicker we can get our police forces there, the better."
When it comes to stopping crime, Hovland knows this won't be an easy task.
"It's gonna take a metro on this one, and we're all gonna have to work together," Hovland said.
