Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and 2nd Precinct Inspector Nick Torborg noted decreases in crime at a recent meeting. (Mark Peterson)
The Minneapolis Police Department had nothing but good news at a March 21 presentation at the Nicollet Island Pavilion. About 100 people attended the meeting.
“MStat” meetings are held every four to six weeks in one of the five police precincts, to keep the public informed about trends in crime. All five precincts were represented by their inspectors, who, using large video screens, explained the crime numbers for the past 11 weeks compared to the same time in 2024.
Second Precinct Inspector Nick Torborg said the command staff gets together with their officers and crime analysts to talk about crime each week. Meetings include discussions about criminal investigations, “Which is kind of, who’s doing what.”
MPD Crime Analyst Molly Hauf gave out some statistics about the city: Minneapolis population as of the 2020 census is 429,954, averaging out to 7,962 per square mile, and the five police precincts cover 80 different neighborhoods.
Hauf noted six non-negligent homicides this year in comparison to last year at this time when there were 12, a 50% decrease year over year. There were 33 gunshot victims so far this year compared with 36 last year; shooting incidents totaled 38 this year last year there were 52, a 27% decrease from last year.
Hauf also explained the gun crime index, the aggregate number of calls for service in the categories of shootings, Shot Spotter activations, person with a gun and shots-fired calls. Citywide homicides were at zero versus four for the previous 28 days. The total gun violence index is down 24%
There were 43 robberies of persons citywide, compared to last year’s 103, a 58% reduction, and a similar reduction in aggravated robbery. There have been 36 carjackings so far this year, compared with 57 last year. Overall, robberies are down almost 50%.
Torborg reviewed the 2nd Precinct numbers. The precinct covers approximately 12 square miles, serving around 81,000 residents.
He said, “Some of these stats I’m almost afraid to call attention to, because we don’t want to jinx it. But like the rest of the city, our crime is trending down, as you can see in 2025 burglaries. Last year we had 58, and so far this year we’ve had 41, a significant reduction.”
He said auto theft is slowly getting under control. “Last year we had 202 auto thefts year to date. So far this year, we’ve had 147. It’s still a large number, and we’re not happy with that, but at least we’re trending in the right direction.” Second Precinct auto theft numbers fluctuate week to week. “We’re not sure why. Some weeks will only have four or five cars taken, and in other weeks, there’ll be upwards of 30. I think the weather plays some role in that, but we can’t be certain.”
Torborg described a recent attempted car theft at the Riverside Xcel Energy plant on Marshall Street. Officers Olson, Anderson, Kelly, Davis and officer-in-training Lockett responded to an early morning call about a trespasser on the site. Torborg said the company has tight security but the suspect sneaked into the grounds on foot, following a car through the gate. As officers arrived, he had managed to find an unlocked car that was warming up. He got inside and took off at high speed. What he didn’t account for is that the whole grounds are fenced in. Because of a locked front gate, he wasn’t able to drive the car out of the lot. He spun around in circles for a minute or two, tried to park the car and bail out, but was quickly taken into custody without any further incident or injuries to himself or officers, and with no major damage. He had multiple outstanding warrants.
Chief Brian O’Hara singled out two officers for special attention. Chad Fuchs, a 28-year senior police officer, was one of two officers who on January 2 responded to an address on Broadway in Northeast on a report of a two-month-old in distress. While taking the infant to the hospital, it became apparent the child had overdosed on fentanyl and was given Narcan. Fuchs, hearing there were other children in the house, went back to discover a twin to the first infant, and performed CPR on the child, who had gone into cardiac arrest. The doctor in the hospital said the baby would not have survived without the officer’s assistance.
The Chief’s Award of Merit was presented to April Smith, a Hennepin County social worker embedded in the 2nd Precinct for the past 18 months, and who, O’Hara said, “Has earned the trust and respect of officers through her dedication to at risk individuals. She regularly attends roll calls, provides officers with guidance response to scenes involving complex mental health issues and conducts followups to ensure long term solutions. April has served over 80 clients, assisting those experiencing mental health crises, homelessness and other vulnerabilities.
“Her commitment was especially evident last November, when the 2nd Precinct officers found a lost four-year-old girl in very cold temperatures. The child only spoke Spanish and had been separated from her family. Officers brought her to a precinct where Smith helped identify her, keep her calm and coordinated with Child Protection and other resources. Thanks to April’s expertise, the child was safely reunited with her family in less than two hours, preventing what could have been a very prolonged and very traumatic experience for that child.”