BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — On June 9, Brooklyn Park Police said they responded to River Park for reports of a large and rowdy group. There, they said they found hundreds of teenagers and eventually shut down the park when a fight broke out among them.
Police said the teens then left River Park and gathered at Noble Sports Park and continued similar behavior. Police shut down that park too.
Then a similar event happened on June 19, when a group of teens migrated from a park in Maple Grove to Noble Sports Park again. Officers dispersed the group, and the group reassembled in Central Park. Police said they dispersed the crowd once again when they observed fights breaking out.
One person was assaulted and a second person was hit by a vehicle, according to police.
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston is also a resident of Brooklyn Park. He is a father to two teens and a 7-year-old. He said he gets it and wants to make sure public safety is prioritized.
Sharon: If I'm a resident here, and I saw the large gatherings on television, and I'm like, 'wow, my park isn't even safe anymore.' What do you say to that person?
Mayor Winston: I would say your park is safe. But I would also say I get it. Public safety has got to remain a priority. That means it remains a priority when we're dealing with these large gatherings and it remains a priority when we over time push down these numbers.
Sharon: What [the teens] are doing on paper is not inherently illegal. You are free to gather at a park. What is it about that that makes city officials and law enforcement nervous?
Winston: I don't know if it's necessarily a nervous thing, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to deal with this thing. I think it's the numbers. The sheer numbers. And the fact that we have a few bad actors. Sometimes that can catch on. I think what I've been impressed with our local law enforcement, police department is two things: They've taken an approach of really working with violence interrupters and understanding the community, know the youth and have those personal relationships. So when you see these gatherings – and there's only been a few I just want to make that clear – that they've often led with folks who know the youth personally and they're getting the youth to disperse.
Sharon: In both cases, you guys didn't arrest anyone, you guys didn't issue citations. And that was a deliberate choice?
Winston: I think our law enforcement is very aware that we need to have an environment where youth feel safe but at the same time, let people know that we will not tolerate people going outside with that. We're going to build a rapport you feel comfortable letting us know what you're going to do, comfortable being in these spaces. We have to also teach people that when you're coming to these large gatherings, these are the expectations that you have, and as a city we're going to help you learn that.
Winston: Our city really is a village, and we have to look at it and understand it. We can't jump from 'this makes me uncomfortable' to assuming criminality. We have to say, 'Hey, we as a city have every right to shape our youth to understand how to make the right decisions.' If we come in there with an antagonistic approach we're never going to teach them that these are the expectations.
Winston added that overall crime is down, with 2,579 incidents of crime involving a person, property, society and others in 2022 (through June). That number for 2023 is at 2,175, according to data provided to KARE 11 by the Brooklyn Park police department.
Violent crime is down slightly as well, with 119 incidents in 2022 (through June) and 115 incidents in 2023.
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