MINNEAPOLIS — Today the University of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety is opening their doors — inviting students and parents inside to talk.
"We do this every year to welcome students and let students have access to our department and talk about safety tips," said Chief Matt Clark, with UMN Department of Public Safety.
This comes following reports of up to 10 incidents in Dinkytown over the weekend, including an assault outside the Dinkytown Tattoo, by a mob of more than a dozen people Friday.
MPD says over the weekend, two people were arrested and eight people were cited in the neighborhood.
"That was a coordinated response that resulted in some law enforcement arrests and citations," said Chief Clark.
UMPD Chief Clark says right now - the department has 54 officers, just short of an authorized strength of 71. They're now working on adding additional officers.
And with graduation coming up this weekend, the department says they're already putting plans into place to keep students, parents and staff safe.
"We know we'll have a lot of parents and students, and we will have every officer working in the department Friday and Saturday night on and off campus," said Chief Clark.
"We need to talk about safety all year round and what safety means to a student, to a grad student, to a staff member and faculty and how we can address issues," said Nicholas Juarez, with the University of Minnesota.
UMPD says they're working with other law enforcement agencies to increase patrols on and off campus throughout the summer months.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: