MINNEAPOLIS — From heavy metal to punk rock, the Twin Cities are in the middle of another major music weekend.
With band like Metallica and Green Day drawing massive crowds this weekend, the Minneapolis Police Department is taking the steps to ensure the crowds do not draw an uptick in crime.
"We're always communicating both with federal partners and local partners, just to ensure that there isn't anything out of the usual," said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
It makes sense to think large crowds downtown like we are seeing this weekend would invite more crime, but Police Chief Brian O'Hara says it does the opposite.
"The amount of people in public spaces definitely helps keep the riff-raff away," Chief O'hara said. "It creates less opportunity for crime to happen on the street. If there's fewer people around, one, people don't feel safe, and two, there does become an opportunity for theft and those types of things… because there's nobody there to see it to intervene."
Several additional officers are on patrol during large events, and the MPD is constantly monitoring cameras around downtown facilities to attempt to stop crime before it happens.
'Thankfully, we've been doing this all year, 1000s and 1000s of people here, and no major incidents related to any event, and we want to keep it that way," Chief O'Hara said. "Even if you're not a fan of the music, robberies being down this year, street crime being down downtown, that's music to everybody's ears."
Metallica will be back at U.S. Bank Stadium Sunday night, and on Monday, Def Leppard and Journey will take over Target Field.