RE: [Mpls] Police Chief Search

[Jim Bernstein]

I had a similar experience with a Minneapolis police officer at a social occasion earlier this summer.  He told me that several years ago he bought land and built a house “almost halfway up to (Lake) MilleLac to get away from all “that city crap”.  When I asked him why he lives so far away from the city he works in he said that he “hated” Minneapolis but he loved being a police officer and that Minneapolis is where “all the action is” and that he would be bored as a rural, suburban or small town police officer.  He also said that “you couldn’t pay me enough to live in Minneapolis or St. Paul”.  I found his attitude very demeaning. I don’t think it is possible or necessarily important to have officers living inside city limits; I certainly don’t begrudge Minneapolis police officers of firefighters from living in Richfield, or St. Louis Park or Robbinsdale or any other “close in suburb”.  I do question the motives of one who decides to pick up an move away from the metro area however.   Jim Bernstein Fulton    -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ken bradley Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 3:34 PM To: McGreevy, James A., III; Dooley, Bill; Discuss Minneapolis (E-mail) Subject: [Mpls] Police Chief Search     Hello Minneapolis Folks: The Mayor and Council have an excellent opportunity to hire a Chief that will work to make the department reflect the population it serves. The city must find a Chief from within or outside the department that has such qualities, and with such leadership we may begin to have officers that decide live in the city they serve.   I wish more officers would choose to live in the city they receive a pay check from. It is hard to take officers seriously when they live in Wisconson or Elk River. I still can't believe that a Minneapolis Police Officer said to me, "If you don't like it (crime), why do you live here?" That is like telling a customer unhappy with their food at a restaurant if you don't like the it, why do you eat here? I doubt a restaurant owner would keep such an employee around very long and we don't need officers with that same attitude working in our city.       Respectfully,   Ken Bradley Corcoran Neighborhood   Ken Bradley Corcoran     Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software