Star Tribune article on burglaries in my neighborhood

[pegkerr]

Here.

Excerpts:

Burglaries in that area of south Minneapolis are up 47 percent from this time last year, and authorities have few explanations for the increase.

Among the 1920s bungalows of the Police Department's Third Precinct in south Minneapolis, burglaries the first six months of this year are up 47 percent over the same period last year.

Kicking in doors, tearing out screens and reaching through open windows, burglars have invaded hundreds of the precinct's homes. The burglary surge has not occurred everywhere in the city. Three other precincts have had a drop in burglaries so far this year. The only other place where break-ins are on the rise is the First Precinct, which recorded a 22 percent increase so far.

Citywide, burglaries are up 1.5 percent for the first six months of the year, from 1,967 last year to 1,996 this year. However, burglaries are down 7 percent citywide from two years ago, when Minneapolis saw 2,155 burglaries in the first six months.

No one seems to have a good explanation for this year's epidemic in the Third, which is bounded by Interstate 35W on the west, I-94 on the north, the Mississippi River on the east and 62nd Street on the south.

"It's been a huge increase," said Sgt. Joel Sandberg, one of the detectives charged with finding the burglars. He sounded weary in a recent interview as he talked about how many cases have landed on his desk recently.

According to Sandberg, some of the jobs have been pulled by known criminals -- career offenders who can singlehandedly create a mini crime wave. Others are first-timers driven to steal after losing a job.

More at the link up above. The article doesn't mention muggings. But I have a hunch they're up, too.

Comments

[matthewdaly]

There's no reason to have hunches. We live in the future!

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-statistics/codefor/index.asp

You can track by week, crime, and neighborhood. There might be more targeted data as well; I know that my parents have a way to hear about all the crime in the immediate vicinity of their Florida house when they're up north for the summer.