MINNEAPOLIS — Police chiefs and mayors across Hennepin County are asking the county attorney to take prosecution of violent offenders more seriously.
In an effort to combat the recent surge in violent crimes, Stephanie Revering, the Crystal Police Department Chief of Police and president of the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association, wrote a letter Wednesday to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on behalf of the association.
In the letter, Revering called for a handful of changes to potentially help stop curb violence across the county, including more aggressive prosecution of cases, revisiting bail reform procedures and refraining from using "sign and release" warrants for violent crimes and felony-level crimes for individuals.
The full letter can be read below:
A coalition of Hennepin County mayors echoed the chiefs' message to Freeman with their own letter earlier this week.
Mayors from Maple Grove, New Hope, Crystal, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Hopkins and Minnetonka asked Freeman's office to review policy changes regarding posting bail and prosecuting crimes in the county.
"Decisions to not prosecute serious crimes sends important messages to both perpetrators and our residents," the statement read in part. "Public safety is the most basic service cities provide to people who live, work and attend school in our communities."
The full letter from the mayors can be read below:
Thursday afternoon, Hennepin County Mike Freeman responded to chiefs association and mayors the with his own statement, reiterating his "commitment to partnering and collaborating with [city leaders and police chiefs] to address the increase in crime impacting our county."
Freeman said he understands the concerns presented by both groups, and said he plans to meet with the mayors and police chiefs again next week.
You can read Freeman's full statement below:
"I hear and understand the concerns being raised by city leaders and police chiefs. Over the past three weeks, I have reached out to the police chiefs and mayors throughout Hennepin County. I have reiterated my commitment to partnering and collaborating with them to address the increase in crime impacting our county. My office’s priority remains focused on supporting the victims of these crimes and the impact of these crimes on the safety of our neighborhoods. We are charging and prosecuting both juveniles and adults to the fullest extent of the law. Our practice has always been to focus our limited resources on the most violent crimes first and that is what we are doing.
Violent crime in Hennepin County requires that we work now as partners and attack it together. Accordingly, I will be meeting with mayors and police chiefs again next week. We have been and will continue to work with our criminal justice partners to address the increased crime and to develop focused prevention strategies."
In a statement to KARE 11, Hennepin County's Chief Public Defender Kassius Benson raised concerns with the specific changes address in the chiefs' association's letter, saying that such reactions only "exacerbate current disparities and inequities" in the justice system.
"With respect to the letter from the Police Chief’s association, I will state that I am concerned with the calls for 'aggressive prosecution,' 'revisiting bail reform,' and 'reexamining juvenile detention,'" Benson's statement reads. "Such reactions and responses to perceived spikes in crime serve only to exacerbate current disparities and inequities that exist in the criminal justice system. The players in the court system are not necessarily responsible for the recent increases in crime. Many sociological factors are at play due to the changes in the world over the last two years. Hennepin County prosecutors should only proceed on cases that can be prosecuted and proven in accordance with the legal standards that are in place to protect the individual as well as the public."
On Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey held a press conference to discuss the crime spikes in the city, calling it "a very grave problem."
"Let me be exceedingly clear... the violent and criminal conduct that we have seen in Minneapolis and surrounding cities throughout the last several months is garbage," Frey said.
"I can stand up here and tell you, and many will, that every major city in the country is seeing an uptick in violent crime, shootings, carjackings, home invasions, and that's true. But who cares, you live in this city... and we are responsible for making sure we are doing everything possible to preventing this kind of violent criminal conduct and holding violent perpetrators responsible and working on every single possible upstream solution we can."
The mayor was accompanied by Assistant Chief and soon-to-be interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman, who Frey said is directing increased enforcement and re-directing department resources to make the city a safer place.
During the press conference, Assistance Chief Huffman laid out some stark numbers from 2021, a year that saw 650 people shot and more than 2,000 robberies, including more than 650 carjackings. Huffman said investigators are working hard to solve those crimes, looking for cars taken in those carjackings and used in additional violent acts.
"We live in Minneapolis, we love Minneapolis, we're responsible here in Minneapolis... and we're going to be doing everything possible to make sure Minneapolis, working with our other surrounding partnerships and jurisdictions, that we're keeping people safe," Frey said.