Adding Officers To Patrol North Side Reducing Gun Violence

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An increase in the number of police officers who patrol north Minneapolis has led to a decrease in gun violence.

But at least one city council person believes more officers should be hired to patrol the entire city. Late last month, calls to 911 for shootings on the north side spiked. It led the police chief to add more patrol officers to trouble spots in those neighborhoods.

About 20 officers from other areas of the city were moved to help out. A city council member believes the hiring of additional officers could help out in more than one way.

"We hear gunfire maybe once a week, maybe a little bit more than that. There is a lot of gang activity out here as well," Blong Yang said.

Ward 5 city councilman Blong Yang lives in what Minneapolis Police would consider a hot spot on the city's north side. He's seen first-hand the effect having more officers on the streets has had on his community.

"Hearing on the streets folks are liking this. They're liking officers are on the streets, they are walking around," Yang said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau ordered 20 officers from across the city to report to the north side for duty. Since that order, there has been a reduction in calls to 911 and the number of shot spotter alerts in north Minneapolis.

The number of victims of gun violence is down as well.

"The Fourth Precinct needs a lot more cops because we have more gun violence, we have more violent crimes, we have more things that require cops to be here. So this latest strategy of putting up to 20 cops up here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, that's probably something that should have happened a long time ago," Yang said.

Yang believes a city the size of Minneapolis could use more officers on the street.

"We're close to about 870 cops and you know I think in a city over 400,000 I think we should be closer to 900 or 1,000 cops," Yang said.

Not only will the additional officers help curb violence, Yang believes it will also help the department look more like the people it serves.

"We have an opportunity to hire a more diverse police force so that's probably going to change the course of police for the next 20 to 30 years or for the next generation," Yang said.

Yang said everyone on the north side just wants to feel safe in their own neighborhood. He agrees with Chief Harteau's plan to move officers to hot spots no matter where they are in the city to deal with violence.

Yang just hopes more officers can be added to help decrease violence across the entire city. Chief Harteau has said in the past, there is no way the city can police itself out of this problem.

She hopes people in neighborhoods that are considered hot spots help out by helping police find the guns and where they come from before they are used in violent crimes.