Tim,
I hadn't replied to some of the discussion on handguns on Mpls-issues due to
it being a general topic not unique to Minneapolis and also because I just
got back from vacation (in Norfolk VA--where they don't recycle ...which in
one sense I find more frightening than plainclothes officers!).
I work for the MPD, but I'm not a sworn officer, so I'm not uniformed nor
gun-carrying. Working along side officers who do undercover or plainclothes
work, however, what I have noticed is that whenever the gun is visible on a
belt holster or inside a suit coat, generally their badge is also visible.
When I started working here in 1995, if I'd see someone in a suit walk by
with gun exposed, I'd look for the badge more to know what rank the officer
was than to be sure they were an officer, what with being in the PD office
spaces...
Generally, in Minneapolis you will see more plainclothes officers, often
higher in rank, in the Downtown area than in other precincts. The
centralized investigative units are still mostly officed Downtown, and you
ordinarily will see plainclothes officers nearest City Hall and the block to
the northwest of it, and around the Downtown Command (29 S. 5th St.). In
the other precincts, of course, you're more likely to see their
investigators (mostly sergeants) in plain clothes near the precincts. If
you see them away from such locations, it probably means they are out
visiting witnesses or victims, to get their statements in order to be able
to charge criminals.
I'm sure in the dress code for officers if they are on-duty in plainclothes,
they would be written up if they forgot their guns. Personally, I find that
armed uniform officers are more intimidating to most people than a cop in a
suit. I don't think there's a universal reaction on the part of citizens
when they see a gun exposed. Probably depends on how frequently a person is
around guns... I would be surprised if most Minneapolitans took it as a sign
of "institutional intimidation."
I regret I don't know what to say to allay your fears about the plainclothes
officers, except perhaps to say you have much more to fear, and I think
statistics would back up the statement, from crooks with hidden guns and
knives than from plainclothes cops. So far in the year 2000, 985+ felony
assaults (mostly with weapons) in Minneapolis have been reported, not
including 80+ felony assaults on officers, nor hundreds of aggravated
robberies of persons. I would be surprised if the number of complaints of
police brutality so far this year approached those numbers... ***I don't
like putting it that way, because I'd like to express the fact that you're
as safe from any violence in Minneapolis as you would be in any other
city--be it from your neighbor or the police.
It is a larger debate whether or not our cops should carry guns--in England
most of the bobbies still are not armed, but their special units tend to
have more firepower than stateside municipal law enforcement, due to
terrorism being more a fact of life over there. Perhaps their gun control
laws should be looked at, for those that want gun control, as it seems they
do a better job keeping guns out of the hands of crooks than our laws
do---and thereby I think hangs the tale of why most law enforcement in the
US is armed.
A previous question about carrying unconcealed weapons----I'll look it up as
I'm able; I can tell you that Minnesota is one of about only 15-20 states
where the citizen has to exceptionally justify getting a concealed-carry
permit. In 30 or more states (Virginia, Washington, Texas come right to
mind)--the sheriff or chief of police has to issue you a permit if you don't
have a criminal history or mental illness problems, some require firearms
safety training. The claim has been made that in Minnesota it depends on
what county you live in--some of the northern county sheriffs are
purportedly "easy" about handing out permits, while definitely in Hennepin &
Ramsey, and the chiefs of Mpls & St Paul are expressly against "concealed
carry reform" toward easier permits.
One last note, many of the cops I work with unload and lock up their guns
when they get home, and don't care to carry a smaller concealed gun even
though they could, while off-duty. Even the smallest one is heavier and
harder to conceal than today's cell phones and I daresay they don't
necessarily feel all that unsafe where they live, even those that still live
in Mpls (and there are plenty that do, contrary to the impressions of some
on this list).
CPS Luther Krueger 673-2923 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Downtown Command never sleeps.
(Lyndale, 8th Ward)
> -----Original Message-----
> timothy connolly wrote:
[Krueger, Luther] " about
> having seen on late Saturday afternoon an un-uniformed
> off duty officer on his way to work at the Downtown
> Command striding resolutely across NSP Plaza with a
> hoster and gun strapped to his waist. ....
> I suggest that the officer last Saturday and the
> Commissioner's statement [re ISAG] are the tip of a mighty ugly
> iceberg that infects our city. This is institutional
> intimidation that has the apparent impirimatur of our
> elected officials who all monitor this site yet fail
> to respond.
>
