Police roll out summer safety plan for Dinkytown to combat increase in thefts
MINNEAPOLIS — Data from the city of Minneapolis' dashboard shows an increase in certain crimes in Dinkytown, as police roll out their summer safety plans.
According to police data, compared to last year, the Marcy-Holmes area which Dinkytown is a part of has seen a 68.7% increase in thefts compared to last year, and smaller increases in robberies and vandalism.
"I've been trying to stay away from Dinkytown, especially at night," said student Morgan Thomas. "And even during the day trying to go with just a friend, because there are some concerns now that school's over, that like there's a lot less people, so a lot more crime like pickpocketing."
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara acknowledged one cause of the issues as he presented his summer safety plan to city council this week.
"We have problems with kids that come in that are in that sort of in between ages, they're not quite old enough to drink, but they want to hang out. And of course there's issues. And we have had success just from using some police cars, just blocking off some of the roads and Dinkytown late at night," he said.
Other crime prevention tools can be seen stationed in the area at all hours of the day, which is something residents want to see even more of.
"More streetlights and stuff. Because, back where I live, it's super dark," said student AJ Brenner. "You just can't really see where you are half the time and that's kind of scary."
Thomas added that they'd liked to see police being around more often.
