Minneapolis PD: Northside violent crime at 10-year low

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis police say violent crime in north Minneapolis is at the lowest it's been in a decade.

The Minneapolis mayor and police chief are pointing to community policing for the change.

Breaking down Fourth Precinct gunshot victim numbers

What we know:

When the City of Minneapolis talks about violent crime being down, they are focused on fourth precinct gunshot victims. The latest data is from 2024.

Numbers by year:

The data goes all the way back to 2008. In 2014, there were 135 gunshot victims in a single year. There’s an upward trend up until 2021 with 308 victims. Then you start seeing numbers start dropping in 2022. That’s the same year Brian O’Hara became police chief and just last year, 135 gunshot victims.  O’Hara credits community policing.

"People from the community were telling us where they stashed the gun, where they were hiding. You know, we've developed relationships with a lot of the kids that have been getting into trouble over the last year up on the north side, where now parents are calling us directly, calling our investigators," said Chief O’Hara.

The chief says shot-spotter calls are still high.

By the numbers:

One thing the chief says is still high is shot-spotter calls. They’re down 16% between 2023 and 2024, and down 60% compared to 2021. However, O’Hara says there are still guns on the street in north Minneapolis.

"We know through shot spotter exactly how many gunshots have been detected on the north side, and there's still far too much reckless discharges of firearms that have been detected. And so that is something so far, year to date, that is still, obviously, far too high. But in terms of people being hit by bullets, of people being murdered, that is down very dramatically," said O’Hara.

More work needs to be done. Officers got 13 guns off the street on Wednesday. Most of them were on the north side.

Both the chief and the mayor say more work needs to be done.