On New Year’s Eve, 2024, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara put out an end-of-the-year message to all MPD officers thanking them for their hard work and dedication. The Chief’s message highlighted some of the successes the MPD had in fighting violent crime, emphasized that 2024 marked the first time in several years the department had added more officers than it lost, and recognized the improvements that have been made in being more transparent and building trust in the community.
There has not been a tougher police chief job in the country than that of the MPD Chief in recent years. Despite this, Chief O’Hara has handled the job well — demonstrating leadership and a commitment to rebuilding pride in an organization saddled with two separate consent decrees, an unhelpful City Council, and a staffing crisis as big as any police department has faced.
Chief O’Hara is not the problem when it comes to crime in Minneapolis. The anti-police movement that many city leaders helped ignite following the death of George Floyd is the problem. It sent a clear message to criminals that the streets were theirs. That message served to embolden criminals and demoralize the police, ushering in one of the most violent periods in the city’s history.
The city is still reeling from this ill-conceived movement, and 2024 represented a resurgence of some of the violence that had appeared to be waning. According to the Minneapolis Crime Dashboard, in 2024 the city experienced increased numbers over 2023 or over the past three-year average in each of the following crime categories: Assaults, Homicides, Robberies, Sex Crimes, Domestic Assault, Burglaries, Motor Vehicle Theft, Vandalism, and Larceny. While “Shots Fired Calls” dropped slightly in 2024, there were still an average of 17 shooting calls per day, and an average of one gunshot victim per day in Minneapolis. This is frustrating news.
The following chart depicts the Crime Dashboard data through 12/30/2024.
This past Sunday demonstrated just how far Minneapolis has slipped, and just how far it must go if it is to actually rebound. The violence began early and continued throughout the day. Here are some of the crimes of violence dispatched throughout the city that day as reported by Crimewatch Minneapolis:
- 1:15 am — 11 gunshots recorded in the 3300 block of Logan Ave N, per the Shotspotter system.
- 12:05 pm — A large group of juveniles fled from a stolen vehicle near 44th and Emerson Ave N, and a caller saw one toss a handgun.
- 1:07 pm — 4th Precinct Officers reported hearing multiple gunshots outside the Precinct building and located a 17-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
- 5:40 pm — Two black male suspects robbed a person at gunpoint at 38th St. and 44th Ave So.
- 6:03 pm — 9 fully automatic gunshots recorded near North High School per the Shotspotter system.
- 6:35 pm — Armed robbery at 4200 block of Snelling Ave S, by two Hispanic males possessing a “machine gun.”
- 6:49 pm — Armed carjacking at 3100 block of Oakland Ave S, by two Hispanic males
- 7:16 pm — Armed robbery at 2100 block of Bryant Ave S.
- 8:40 pm — Three volleys of gunshots totaling over 30 rounds recorded near the homeless encampment at Park Ave and East Lake St, per the Shotspotter system.
- 10:50 pm — Female overdosed next to the East Lake St homeless encampment
- 11:35 pm — 5 gunshots recorded near East 25th St and 12th Ave S per the Shotspotter system.
The data and the details of these violent events offer important context to the discussions of Minneapolis’s “recovery.” While there are signs of a brighter future involving the Minneapolis Police Department, the current environment on the street is a powerful reminder of the extent the city has fallen, and the work that remains.
To succeed in that work, especially as staffing remains an issue, MPD leaders must strive to further collaborate with partner agencies like the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, to maximize both a preventative law enforcement presence, and robust investigative response. Solving violent crime and holding offenders accountable is one of the best measures to prevent further violent crime.
As I’ve noted repeatedly, it is in our collective best interest to ensure Minneapolis succeeds. Minnesotans cannot afford to let it fail, no matter how tempting it is to walk away from it at times.