"Impacted Neighborhoods where the mayor and Council are attempting to
concentrate "Drug and Street Crime".
Yesterday it started early with chasing drug dealers off of my corner. Did not
really bother calling the police I just wanted them gone from the corner where
the kids catch the bus. Of course that was the result of a wife screaming at
them to "Move, Move, take your shit somewhere else". And of course them
answering her with some choice words. Drug dealing continued of course but it
moved back up 10th Ave to around the Metro Transit's "Drug Shelter". It did
not stop just moved mostly back up the street to the shelter the officials have
erected to provide cover and reasonable deniability for those doing street
dealing and prostitution. Also plausible deniability for the politicians to
cover ordering the police to NOT enforce "Loitering with Intent" law.
A few hours I came into the backyard of my son's house across the alley after
doing some work in his basement. I noticed a couple of young Black men in
hoodies checking cars and a garage door after waving to a drug dealer walking
around the block. I moved them along and called 911. Usual meaningless and
frustrating questions from the dispatcher. A short time later back in my own
house I looked out the window and saw the same pair joined by two young Black
women buying drugs from a Black Man with a shaved head and brown sweater ( a
known drug dealer from the "Drug Shelter"). Stepping on the porch, I yelled
"Hey, get out of there!" They apparently had completed business and were
talking about lighting up the rocks they had purchased. So they moved down
21st Street and went down the same alley as before. Being watched from my
windows all the way until they stepped behind the fenced back yard from which I
had yelled at them before. Going out of the back door I proceeded around the
garage and yelled, "Get the hell out of there, you are trespassing on my
property. They proceeded on down the alley.
The sad thing is what happened when another neighbor (a son) was coming out to
go to work as I was calling 911 again. Hearing my heated discussion with 911
he asked what the hell I was doing. When I answered calling 911 he said, "Are
you crazy? why do you argue with those people, you know they are not going to
send a cop and you also know that when a cop drives by in an hour they are not
going to do shit". I answered that of course I knew that but we needed more
calls to 911 to make the area more of a priority. He again laughed derisively
and repeated that I was crazy as hell if I thought the politicians were going
to let the cops bother drug dealers and prostitutes in this area. They WERE
the reason the criminals were here. He also insulted me by saying I was
getting too damn old to be confronting drug dealers and criminal gang members.
(Old farts like you is really not acceptable language from a son, even if he is
over 40 years old in my opinion:-) Of course he used a little less politically
correct language when saying this.
The sad thing is that he is correct, and even sadder is the fact that he is a
former licensed police officer who now has a much better job. When an ex cop
thinks it is useless for community members to call 911, something is seriously
wrong in Minneapolis. What is wrong is a group of politicians who have
purposefully undermined the Public Safety in parts of Minneapolis. The sad
thing is that this is "Institutional Racism" at its worst. Whole communities
of mainly poor and people of color who are not provided "Equal PROTECTION Under
The Law". No matter what excuse the politicians provide, or what lies the
Police officials offer as cover, it simply is that. A systematic violation of
the Constitutional Rights of a class of individual people by the politicians of
the City of Minneapolis.
We know there are methods to successfully address this situation. Heck, if you
do not believe me ask Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Lillihaug. As U.S.
Attorney he helped to do that to end the "Murderapolis" of the late 1990's and
early 2000. He can tell you how effective "directed police efforts can be". I
had hoped that the new Police Chief would provide that, but I have not seen it
so far. A start would be replacing the Third Precinct Commander with someone
who actually wants to do something about the problem...but then that would be a
problem with the politicians who want the criminals NOT bothered so they will
remain concentrated here.
By the way here is a funny one for you. I found out later in the day from a
911 dispatcher that the reason we in my neighborhood are such a low priority is
that we are not seeing some poor drug addict shooting up when we call on the
drug dealer selling him or her the heroin or meth. The drug dealer selling is
a "Class Two Priority"; shooting the drug with a needle is a "Class One
Priority" for the police. Pardon the language, but who in the hell was the
idiot that came up with that. Police do not bother- even just stopping - the
known dealer doing business, but has the poor addict and or sex slave
prostitute as a Class One priority. Folks, that really is foolishness. OR
maybe not, when it allows politicians to act like they really care. It is like
making the victim the priority rather than the real criminal.
The last straw was being again told that if the drug dealers bothered me so
much I should call the "Drug Hotline at the Third Precinct. It is 612-673-5703
by the way. Since I am tired of calling can I get a few of you to please call
612-673-5703 and tell them that there is drug dealing going on under the POLICE
camera at Franklin Avenue and 10th Avenue. Please, you will not be making a
false call, there is always drug dealing going on there. So please help us out
and as many of you as possible call. The Third Precinct Commander denies that
it is even a problem.
I am going to call 612-673-5703 right now. An open "Drug Market" is active at
Franklin and 10th :-)
Jim Grham