Violence broke out in Dinkytown last weekend with several youths participating in illegal activity, some of which were shared and posted to social media.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara joined News Talk 830 WCCO’s Adam Carter and Jordana Green to discuss the efforts of his officers to crack down on criminal activity and what they saw over the weekend.
While the city is often criticized for criminal activity and the response of its police force, O’Hara shared that everything isn’t always what it seems.
For example, O’Hara shared that last weekend in Dinkytown, officers encountered numerous adolescents and young adults, 35 of which were residents of the city’s suburbs, not Minneapolis.
“Only eight of the individuals that police had contact with over the weekend were actually from Minneapolis,” O’Hara said.
O’Hara shared that disorderly conduct, curfew violations, and misdemeanor assault were among the illegal activities that the neighborhood encountered, all things he says police won’t detain an individual for.
“Kids throwing drinks at people inside of businesses, kids throwing rocks and that kind of thing,” O’Hara said. “If you’re going in for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, or a curfew violation, you’re not going to be detained. Not just in Hennepin County but pretty much anywhere in the state.”
On Monday night, a community meeting was held to discuss the chaos. O’Hara says community members shared that it’s a common trend with teens coming into the neighborhood from outside the city during this time of year.
“It’s teenagers and people who just turned 18 looking to come in at the end of the [school] year, trying to get into parties and that kind of thing,” O’Hara said.
When it comes to the response of his officers, O’Hara said that they were caught off guard and not expecting dozens of teenagers to be entering the area and causing problems.
Even still, the chief said that they responded as quickly, working to restore order as fast as possible.
“The officers involved did respond quickly,” O’Hara said. “Once we were aware that this was a problem that was going to be ongoing, we ramped up police presence, coordinated with the University of Minnesota, and even got some state troopers in to help by the end of the weekend.”
Of all the teens police encountered over the weekend, O’Hara said that only one was a repeat offender who had come into contact with law enforcement three nights in a row, finally being detained the third night on suspicion of auto theft.
When asked about what trends he is seeing, O’Hara says the biggest issue the city, state, and nation are dealing with is kids taking stolen vehicles for joyrides.
“What’s happening here in the city, in particular, is we’re seeing kids joyriding multiple times. And just seeing them consistently released without being detained because it’s not viewed as a violent offense,” he said.
O’Hara says that the issue needs to be addressed and that he is raising the issue with “anyone who will listen” because of the danger it poses.
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