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Extra Officers Walk North Minneapolis Streets

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A day after gunfire claimed another life in north Minneapolis, police are making their presence known.

Officers are out of their cars and walking the beat, interacting with people in the latest effort to stop the violence.

"We're out here because we care about the community, you know," said Officer Brandon Bartholomew. "Having grown up in north Minneapolis myself, I take a lot of this personally and I want my community that I grew up in to thrive and to not have these homicides."

Bartholomew knows how important it is to interact with residents in the area and establish trust.

"It's that relationship between the community and police that really helps end this crime spree," he said.

In the past year, MPD has seen a 12-percent increase in the number of guns recovered off the streets They hope their increased patrols will lead to additional increases.

"To gain intelligence and to find as many guns as we can, because that's what's killing people out here," Bartholomew said.

Shelly Damm with the Northside Achievement Zone says police need partners in fighting crime, and one crucial way is to engage and challenge the youth.

"The Northside Achievement Zone has 450 scholars in summer programming," Damm said. "This is the kind of thing that we can do to combat the violence that happens in a community."

Young scholars and their parents celebrate success Friday night. It's all about being a kid, while learning and doing what's necessary to make it to college.

"This is what it should be in our neighborhood," said resident Darlene Bell. "They shouldn't know about the homicides."

Officers hope their efforts, and those of organizations like Northside Achievement Zone, will lead to a reduction in crime scenes and an increase in what's good for the community.

The increased patrols are also taking place Friday night in south Minneapolis.

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