A reminder that non-emergency, non-urgent crime reporting can be done via the City of Minneapolis’ 311 service. This includes things such as, reporting abandoned vehicles, graffiti, etc. You can also file an online police report for non-urgent crimes that fall within certain criteria.  http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/report/eReport

On March 3rd a public safety meeting was held at the MPS Adult Basic Education building off 31st  St. and 23rd Ave. The topic of discussion was general public safety and the recent MPD police raids of certain properties located on the 31XX 23rd Ave block of Corcoran.

Here are the minutes from the meeting, as captured by Ross Joy:

• It would be helpful for neighbors (and current tenants) to know the content landlord’s [Name withheld for privacy] management plan with MPD at 31XX 23rd Ave S. For example, if the landlord was supposed to hire a management company, that does not seem to have happened. [This was identified as one of the properties as a source of concern.]
• There are serious interior health and safety conditions occurring at 31XX 23rd Ave S (nonstandard support beams, holes in walls and floors, water damage and mold on basement insulation, pest infestation, etc.) I have contacted Mui Le with Housing Inspections Services, but it does not seem that an inspection has been scheduled. If the new tenants at 31XX 23rd Ave need to call 3-1-1 to report these substance conditions, the City should ensure that a 3-1-1 sign is posted at the property, which at present there is not.
• Engage with MPHA about next family who will live at 31XX 23rd Ave S.
• Corcoran residents are interested in meeting on a consistent basis to discuss crime and safety issues affecting the neighborhood. Shawn Kinzel expressed willingness to help lead this.

The meeting was attended by many neighbors from the area. Karen Notsch has expressed a willingness to work with Corcoran Neighborhood on forming and running consistent public safety related meetings. She has said in the past there used to be such meetings and they were effective in helping clean up crime in the area. They were so successful they stopped, but perhaps it is time for them to be resurrected. I will be following up Karen and CNO for help setting up these meetings. Look for more information in the paper, the CNO website and Nextdoor.

On a final note this month I have noticed that residents' opinions and feelings about the Minneapolis Police run the spectrum from very poor experiences to very good experiences. I will be putting together a survey for residents to share their experiences in an effort to capture topics that can be brought to MPD to help strengthen our partnership with them. We as a neighborhood can take many steps to strengthen our sense of community, get to know our neighbors, and generally watch out for the interests and safety of Corcoran. However, we still need to partner with the police and the city. Hopefully we can identify concerns, share praise, and do things that can continue to make Corcoran a great, safe place to live.