MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis is seeing a spike in homicides. In the past two months, the city has seen 22 murders and nonnegligent homicides, according to city data. Both November and December had higher numbers than any month this year.
"It's unusual to have kind of a trend that we've seen, particularly the last two months," said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara says it's hard to pin down exactly why it's happening. He says the biggest factor he can point out is access to guns.
In November there were 10 homicides, December has already seen 12. Both months are higher than any other month this year.
O'Hara says overall, violent crime is trending down due to the initiatives with community members and others. But he also explains that his department has been turned on its head. The officers he has are doing a good job, there's only so much they can do as they wait on contract negotiations.
"We have half the number of investigators that we had three years ago," said O'Hara. "I'm hopeful that 2024 we will be able to turn a corner and stop the bleeding of people from this department."
Despite this spike, overall non-negligent homicides are down 9 percent compared to last year, according to city data.
O'Hara said he is looking forward to a visit from the federal government in the coming weeks, that will help the department assess their protocols around gun, drug and gang violence.
"I'm confident, continuing with the strategies that we have, the larger trend that we will see next year will continue to be a reduction in the amount of shootings and in the amount of violence in general," said O'Hara. "And we're going to be doing more next year."
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