MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) will respond to all 911 calls in areas near campus, including Dinkytown, under an expanded mutual aid agreement with Minneapolis Police that began Monday.
UMPD has assisted MPD with emergency 911 calls for many years. However, starting this week, UMPD will now handle all 911 calls — emergency and non-emergency — for one year in parts of Dinkytown and Marcy-Holmes. Specifically, those areas will include University Ave. SE to 4th Street SE and I-35W to Oak Street SE.
At a Board of Regents meeting earlier this month, UMPD Chief Matt Clark said MPD's staffing shortages have led to delayed response times in neighborhoods near campus. Although the UMPD force is also 15 officers short of authorized strength, Clark said he believes his team still has the capacity to shoulder the load.
"I believe it's a good thing we're responding to some of those lower-priority calls when our university folks off-campus need that help," Clark said. "Considering the amount of overtime and staffing levels, I don't know that we could do much more than that, but in my discussions with department members, we feel like it's something we should do and a responsibility we should take on."
In a statement, a Minneapolis Police spokesperson welcomed the mutual aid expansion with UMPD.
"The mutual aid agreement strengthens our long-standing, existing partnership," an MPD spokesperson said. "We will continue to work closely together, respond in a more coordinated manner, and be more responsive to the public safety needs in these neighborhoods near the U of M."
Under the terms of the expanded mutual aid program, UMPD will handle most criminal investigations for the 911 calls their officers handle, except for major crimes or when MPD requests the investigation.
UMPD has already bolstered its response in Dinkytown over the past few years, including the addition of police cameras and at least two dedicated patrol officers in the neighborhood each night. Chief Clark told the Board of Regents that violent crime in Dinkytown has dropped at least 60 percent over the past few years, going from 87 violent crime reports in 2021 to just 28 in 2023.
Selam Gerezgiher, a junior University of Minnesota student, said she feels that some people tend to exaggerate the crime concerns near the U of M, although she does support an expanded UMPD response.
"I think that crime has been okay. I haven't seen any or experienced any, nor have many of my friends," she said. "[But] it never really hurts. If there is crime I would feel safer if there was someone to address it. I also think there could be better places to put UMPD, like in more secluded, quieter areas on campus."
However, crime in Dinkytown has still been a persistent issue for many students and U of M families, due to several high-profile shootings, homicides and other violent incidents near campus in recent years. The university has held numerous meetings on the issue, and a group of parents even formed a nonprofit known as the Campus Safety Coalition.
Steven Mattison, a U of M sophomore, lives in the building above Royal Cigar and Tobacco, where a double homicide occurred last December.
"You're trying to sleep and all the sudden sometimes you do hear gunshots every once in awhile. And it's certainly disturbing occasionally," Mattison said. "Certainly, since we got to college it's been a major issue."
Mattison said he also supports UMPD's expanded mutual aid with MPD. At the same time, UMPD is exploring the creation of a "safety center" somewhere in Dinkytown to bring police and community groups together.
"Just also having better resources around campus. As much [Dinkytown] is off-campus, it's filled with college students," Mattison said, "so having more resources available, whether that be mental health or a physical presence is always a good thing."
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