MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The city of Minneapolis and its police department are getting ready for a busy week of events.
The Minnesota Twins may be in New York Friday and Saturday, but fans will still be headed to Target Field for free watch parties.
Twin fans are guaranteed at least one home playoff game next week.
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Also this weekend, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon will bring thousands of runners and their supporters to downtown.
But the biggest event for Minneapolis police will be President Trump's visit on October 10. The president will be holding a rally at Target Center.
"We've cancelled days off, we've cancelled vacation days. So it will be an all hands on deck event and this week will be our time to really show what we can do again," MPD Spokesperson John Elder said.
Elder said they are still figuring out staffing for the president's visit but they'll be working with lots of different agencies for extra support.
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All the crowds come at a time when violence is up in downtown Minneapolis.
According to Minneapolis Police crime stats, the number of violent crimes in the downtown precinct are up this year by 18%. There have been nine homicides downtown compared to just three at this time last year.
Elder said they have seen a change after 19 suspects were charged in September related to violent robberies in downtown.
"The numbers that do stick in my mind... before they were arrested, we had 23 robberies in a week and last week we had four, two of which have been solved. The other two we're making good progress on. So we're seeing a reduction in that and robbery really tends to be the bellwether of crime. So when those are up, crime across the board tends to be up," Elder said.
Police are reminding people to pay attention to their surroundings with Elder saying, "Stay in well-lit areas, go with multitudes of people if you can, keep your phone in your pocket, keep your head up, look around."
Wednesday, downtown business leaders said the recent rise in violence has hurt business. Steve Cramer, president and CEO of the Downtown Business Council, said they support the Minneapolis mayor and police chief's plan to add more officers which some city council members are opposed to.
While downtown Minneapolis crimes are up so far this year, new numbers from the FBI show violent crime in Minnesota was down in 2018, compared to 2017.
It dropped statewide in 2018 by 8% when compared to 2017. It was also down in Minneapolis overall by 26%. Nationwide, violent crimes were also down—falling by 3.9% in 2018.
