( & apologies for length)
Russell Wayne Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
"Wasn't CODEFOR designed to identify this stuff and then stamp it out. And
I read in the local news that Burglary in Auto's in Corcoran neighborhood
was way up? I wondered if there were other trends that demonstrate that
CODEFOR has either been exhausted or really isn't working and it is time to
try some newer strategies. I know the Chief has called 911 an Abyss and I
wonder if CODEFOR isn't becoming the same kind of Abyss."
There is a mistaken impression floating around about CODEFOR, that it is
some strategy among strategies. It isn't just a strategy, it is a way of
doing business. The best way I can describe it is, think of "Continuous
Quality Improvement," as corporations have been doing for decades now,
finally applied to law enforcement. (Check out how the mayor of Baltimore
is applying it to the entire city's public services--put "CITISTAT" into a
search engine.)
E.g., not just crime but the entire package of how a law enforcement agency
works is up for rethinking. The NYPD recognized when it adopted COMPSTAT
(which Mpls. adopted and called it CODEFOR) that too many suspects were
dying in custody, due to the mistaken impression that a suspect was fighting
the officer when actually they were fighting for breath. A simple
procedural change drastically reduced what were essentially asphyxiations.
Likewise, with CODEFOR it was recognized that cops were stuck too long at
the jail booking people, and the idea of a booking van, where the prisoners
are transferred to officers assigned for that shift, was implemented, so
more cops are out on the street more quickly after arrests than before.
These are things you won't hear much about from the media because they
aren't flashy topics, but all these behind the scenes changes are
contributing to the MPD's ability to reduce crime.
That said, Just as prostitution is supposedly the world's oldest profession,
crime will always be with us. So much for stamping it out altogether; but
to point to a trend and say a philosophy which has reduced crime by over a
third in a few short years city-wide misses the point. E.g., a burglar
could be let out of prison and --voila! you have a new trend in burglaries,
usually within 10 blocks of where they live. (This is why I think we should
have community notification meetings for not just sex offenders, but also
perhaps burglars who are released, since they are 100 times more likely to
victimize people than sex offenders.) The 3rd Precinct could arrest
customers and buyers all day at Chicago & Franklin but if rental owners,
e.g., replace those arrested with more drug dealers & buyers, you'd never
see the end of drug dealing there. Anyone who's lived in the area of 31st &
Pleasant Avenue from 1990 to the present knows what a difference it made
when the owners there started checking criminal histories of applicants.
An example of CODEFOR's tenet of analyzing data & "relentless
follow-through"--one of the few crimes that went up Downtown in 1999 was
business burglaries. We looked at all of them in 1999 and found that if
your business was burglarized once, it had a one in six chance of being
burglarized again within the year, usually in a window of 2-4 weeks after
the original. So we started making our appointments with the burglary
victims to see what they could do to "target-harden" their properties. Such
burglaries declined by a third in 2000.
Re: 911 being an abyss. Our chief is not the only head of a law enforcement
agency that has recognized that merely responding (even in seconds if it
were possible) to crime with lights & sirens doesn't solve the long-term
problem. It is not an insult to patrol officers who clear dozens of 911
calls on each shift, perhaps arrest a half dozen crooks, to say 911 is a
"black hole." It merely acknowledges that there are is more that can and
should be done to prevent and reduce crime, _long-term_. If we'd thought
having the business burglary victims calling 911 was the last step of
involvement on the part of either the PD or the citizenry, we'd be in sorry
shape.
Rich McMartin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>(Rich McMartin) wrote:
"I have driven along lake street and been approached at a stop light by such
entrepreneurs after picking up my daughter at Andersen [a couple of years
ago]. I had no desire for the offered services. If I received one of these
JOHN letters for such an occurrence I would probably contact a lawyer to see
what my options are."
The letter we have sent out, originating mostly from SAFE was one approved
by our city attorneys specifically because it doesn't accuse the vehicle
owner; it states that the owner's vehicle was scene in an area with known
drug or prostitution activity. I'm not aware of any lawsuits and certainly
not successful ones about the letter, but I certainly know of cases where
eager neighborhood volunteers misread lic. plate numbers and, if it weren't
for our double checking to see that the plate's vehicle matched the veh.
description, many completely innocent people would've gotten the letter.
Likewise, to the untrained eye a prostitution customer doesn't stand out
from the person who thinks the driver is asking for directions. I don't
like these letters because, again, it doesn't get at the root of the
problem.
Now earlier our intrepid list manager posted the 5th Pct.'s annual CODEFOR
meeting info, here is the info for all precincts, plus the other precincts'
graffiti presentations:
CODEFOR Meetings
The meetings posted by the list manager were for the 5th Precinct, and each
precinct will have its own precinct-wide CODEFOR and Graffiti meetings.
Meeting locations are chosen for their capacity to allow for as many people
to attend as possible, consideration of parking issues, etc. A general
update on citywide crime statistics and strategies will be given but each
presentation will focus on issues particular to the host precinct.
CODEFOR Annual Reports:
2nd Pct.:
Monday, March 19, 7:00pm
Edison High School Auditorium, 700 22nd Ave. NE
5th Pct.:
Wednesday, March 21 7:00pm to 9:00 pm
Richfield Lutheran Church, 8 W. 60th St.
Downtown Command:
Wednesday, April 11, 7:00pm
Downtown Interdistrict School, 10 S. 10th Street
3rd Pct.:
Thursday, April 19, 7:00pm
Midtown YWCA, 2121 E. Lake St.
4th Pct.:
Wednesday, April 25, 7:00pm
Cleveland School, 3000 Penn Av. N. & ? Apologies I don't have the specific
street address, this is a new school...
Graffiti:
5th Pct.
Wednesday, March 28, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
MPD Fifth Precinct Community Room--3101 Nicollet Avenue South
3rd Pct.
Thursday, March 29, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
East Lake Library-2727 East Lake Street
2nd Pct.
Thursday, April 5, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Northeast Library-2200 Central Avenue Northeast
4th Pct.
Monday, April 9, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
MPD Fourth Precinct Community Room-1925 Plymouth Avenue North
Downtown Command:
Tuesday, April 17, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Augustana Lutheran Church-11th Avenue South & 7th Street South
CPS Luther Krueger 673-2923 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Officer Craig Williams 673-2959 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Minneapolis Police Department, Downtown Command SAFE
29 5th St. So., Minneapolis MN 55402 fax: 370-3900
District 7A: Downtown West, North Loop/Warehouse District, and Loring Park
To report graffiti:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-graffiti.asp
Monthly crime stats by neighborhood in Minneapolis are located at:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/police/stats/codefor/index.asp
The Downtown Command never sleeps.
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