The 2nd Precinct Advisory Council — a group of area residents that keeps an eye on crime statistics in the area and, according to its website, helps make “the Second Precinct the safest place to live, work, and visit” — is looking to grow.
Ten people attended the group’s meeting on May 11, at 1911 Central Ave. Molly Fischer, the newly appointed 2nd Police Precinct Inspector, was absent. Chair Emilie Quast noted that Fischer had spent the day at the Precinct’s annual Open House.
Dwindling attendance
Quast said the Open House at the Precinct parking lot earlier in the day was better attended than she expected, considering children were in school and most adults were working. She added that she was glad to be able to talk to people from a lot of Safety and First Responder units that aren’t often available when on duty. Quast said she was pleased to see longtime Hennepin County Assistant Attorney Nnamdi Okoronkwo there.
Prior the meeting, Quast had said she felt the need to discuss how to rebuild 2-PAC attendance and membership both in person and by Zoom. Traditionally, 2-PAC chairs had a tenure of around two years, “Because that keeps fresh ideas coming.” The group is led by six to eight people: Chair, Co-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and two to four others.
Quast said COVID shook up the group’s structure. “People moved away and got too busy handling disrupted lives,” she said. Quast has since tapped people to join a smaller board or sit in on planning meetings.
On May 11, 2-PAC hosted an open house for the public. Representatives from the Minneapolis Police Department, including Molly Fischer, the newly appointed 2nd Police Precinct Inspector, were present. (Mark Peterson)
Crime statistics
Quast began the meeting by acknowledging that, as Inspector Fischer had previously noted, certain categories of crimes had diminished, but she said there are still reasons to be concerned.
“Most of this business is destruction,” she said, referring to crimes in the area. “Young teens get together, steal a car, they roar down the street, doing damage. Last year they were doing a lot more damage, and whoever it was that they caught, they caught the right ones. But these kids are having fun, stealing multiple cars, breaking car windows and taking off by the time someone spots them and files a complaint.” She added, “They may go down to the Fifth Precinct, up to the Third Precinct, up to the Second Precinct, and then they will start over again.”
Quast said that, due to a number of issues, the Inspector can’t do much more. The biggest issue, she said, is response time. If a call about an incident goes promptly to 911, within a minute or two, it will go out as soon as it’s verified.
“It’s going out simultaneously to the officers who are on beat and they’re heading there, but that takes time, and that’s why these sprees can be so devastating,” Quast said.
She added that police officers have complained about changing response procedures. “If they catch the kids, some as young as eleven, very few get sent into detention. They get sentenced, and then they’re down the street.” Inspector Fisher has pointed out that sometimes they will spot the same kids on the street the same day.
Finding other pastimes
Minneapolis assistant city attorney Nnamdi Okoronkwo, a 19-year veteran of the City Attorney’s Office who works with the 2nd and 4th Precincts, said diversion is “a pretty good tool” that’s used by prosecutors for first-time offenders, adding that it gives people an incentive to actually own what they’ve done, and that brought them to the attention of police and potential prosecution, and it’s used quite a bit in the city.
“We call it restorative justice, the county uses it as well, and they use it with juveniles as an opportunity to keep the conviction off of an adult record,” Okoronkwo said. He acknowledged that it’s not always clear whether the tactic works, “But as several of my colleagues in the police department have said before, ‘You can’t necessarily arrest your way out of a lot of these issues’.”
Okoronkwo said that when he first went to the police department, teenagers created a lot of issues — not necessarily homelessness, but drawing a lot of law enforcement attention, requiring some creative ways to address a lot of idleness. He said he grew up in the city, but had a parent that didn’t let him do much. “I could go places, but I just couldn’t be idle. I think that’s a bigger issue that we see, that you could be downtown, at least there’s places to go, but there’s really no place for a lot of juveniles or just young adults, because they can’t legally drink, there are no more arcades, and the parks don’t have as many programs either.”
Why 2-PAC?
Quast was asked about why 2-PAC exists. She said it offers a place where Eastside residents and First Responders can come together to share their concerns and needs, adding that it welcomes residents, business owners and other stakeholders who are concerned about crime and livability issues, and who hope to coordinate their responses with First Responders.
Quast added that 2-PAC aims to facilitate information exchange and to increase safety “while offering a safe place for open conversation and where people can build mutual trust.”
Quast said she was concerned that 2-PAC had not had a planning board for the last six years. She hopes that a board restart “would bring in more people with new energy and new ideas.” Quast happily added that that Dan Miller has agreed to take on the position of Treasurer, with two other people agreeing to serve as Senior Advisors, adding, “They are experienced non-profit members and leaders, who will step in if and when we need experienced direction.”
2-PAC’s June meeting will feature a speaker from the Minnesota Police Department forensics team. They will report on the various units within the crime lab and present what a real-life crime scene investigation entails.