Public Safety
Public Safety
The Daily Planet's top ten stories of 2008
It’s been quite a year in the Twin Cities, and the Daily Planet has been on the scene. With the help of our media partners and our tireless citizen journalists, in 2008 we published over 10,000 articles, blog entries, photos, and event listings. When we saw that the Minnesota Independent had tallied their top ten most-read articles for the year, we were inspired to check the stats and see what articles Daily Planet readers found most fascinating in 2008. MORE »
Photocop: common sense to save lives
A new study from Texas confirms what Minnesotans already know, but have chosen not to take advantage of: Automated traffic signal enforcement systems at crash-prone intersections significantly reduce accidents, along with their heavy health and economic costs. MORE »
Budget threat not slowing the plows...yet, say city officials
More than a foot of snow has fallen on the Twin Cities this season, but Minneapolis and St. Paul have yet to declare a snow emergency. And some metro freeway stretches were pretty slippery during Monday’s morning commute. What’s up with that? Is a looming government budget crisis affecting the clearing of icy and snowy roads. MORE »
Bikers will "Take Back the Greenway" with ride on Dec. 13
The Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) Third Precinct has issued an alert regarding a series of robberies/assaults taking place on the Midtown Greenway bike trail and the adjacent Hiawatha light-rail transit (LRT) trail. MORE »
Shelter from the storm: Minnesota women lead the way in domestic violence services
“I got in the car with my kids and I thought, now what? Where do I go, what do I do? I was not going to my family, because I knew he’d go there first. So I hit Highway 94 [traveling] west. I thought, there are some big cities this way; maybe I can find a job. It was July but it was kind of cool out. I had brought eight sweaters for my kids. They were 11, 10 and 7 years old then. I hit a phone booth and asked for directions to the women’s shelter.” MORE »
Parent boot camp marches on, but history casts doubt on Minneapolis efforts to sustain youth anti-violence efforts
The high-energy call and response summed up the evening’s lesson for about 15 black parents with teenage children.
“What do we do?”
“Model and Teach!”
Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, a psychologist, started what she calls a parent boot camp after working with a number of black families whose children were traumatized by seeing violence in school and the community. It’s called Project Murua, which is Swahili for respect. MORE »
Minneapolis juvenile crime trends look good, but don’t credit prevention work—yet
Last January, Minneapolis city government and community leaders launched the Blueprint for Action: Preventing Youth Violence. This October, advocates, led by Mayor R.T. Rybak, touted a 46 percent drop in juvenile crime.
The plan is a good one and all agree that the crime trends are positive, but it appears that the city has oversold the immediate benefits of the Blueprint’s prevention initiative. MORE »
Cedar-Riverside stakeholders commit action—and funding—to quell violence
In the weeks since Augsburg student Ahmednur Ali was shot and killed just feet from Currie Park and the Brian Coyle Community Center, area residents, community organizations and institutions, and police have stepped up efforts on a number of fronts to improve public safety and community relations in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. MORE »
