With homicides, carjackings down in Minneapolis, officials say initiatives like Operation Endeavor are working
MINNEAPOLIS -- New numbers show Minneapolis continues to make progress in combatting violence seven months after the city first implemented its new crime-fighting initiative, Operation Endeavor.
To date, the number of homicides is down by 45% from this time last year. The number of carjackings is also down by 42% from a year ago.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey acknowledges while there is no single cause for the crime and no single solution to prevent it, the partnership between about a dozen local state and federal agencies is working.
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"This is not just about showing up when a horrible crime takes place," Frey said. "This is about being there in community working hand-in-hand with the neighbors of our city to make the place safer. We're not there yet, but I'll tell you, the strategies and the work that is taking place is working."
While carjackings are down in the city, the number of car thefts continues to outpace last year's numbers by more than 95%, as WCCO reported earlier this month.
Minneapolis law enforcement also continues to seize illegal firearms at a record pace. So far, law enforcement has taken 330 firearms off the streets from people who shouldn't have them, which is the most the city has ever recovered in the first four months of the year.
This follows the roughly 1,100 guns recovered in all of 2022, which also set a record.
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The mayor said while this is encouraging news, there's still more work to be done.
"We need to make sure that our officers are doing everything they can to get these guns off the street and they're doing an incredible job," he said. "We need to make sure we've got a comprehensive approach because it's not just about police officers, getting our mental health responders out there, getting our social workers to help out as well and making sure that we are developing these deep relationships from our neighborhoods."
The work to clean up the city streets is happening as Minneapolis police continue to struggle with hiring officers. The mayor said while they've been able to add some new officers to the force it's still a work in progress.