The police have a plan, but they don't want to say what it is because they don't want to tip off the hoodlums.
One plan they should use but won't of course is to have trained snipers in some of those high rises. They could watch for hours. When a mugging starts, the snipers take out the thugs and another cop on the ground comes to the victims aid.
Pickpockets?
WTF?
Did I read that right? The article describes the attackers as pickpockets.
Could police use a decoy or an undercover to pose as a "victim?" You'll never convince police to use a sniper (believe me, I wish they would, too.) But get a black-belter in martial arts to dress up as a potential target and bye-bye, thuggie.
Copycat crimes. No originality in these assaults.
Pops, I don't think the muggers are looking for originality. This isn't "Silence of the Lambs" here. They're looking for money, and that's what they're getting thanks to Minneapolis nanny-statism.
People with carry permits can walk down that way at night, right? Nothing wrong with that?
Carry permit holders -- the smart ones, anyway -- work very hard NOT to place themselves in situations in which they might have to use their guns.
Look at what the Minneapolis police officers -- who were forced to shoot a deranged man who had just chucked a 60-lb rock through someone's window, threatened to kill several people, and grabbed for a cop's gun -- are going through.
Police officers have the benefit of the law, a police union representative, a city attorney and the deep pockets of the city behind them.
No sane permit holder would deliberately induce these circumstances for herself.
If the MPD had the resources to do more 'proactive policing' I'm sure they'd be more than willing to execute it. My first step as Mayor would be to set the MPD up to do these kinds of stings to catch the throngs of thugs jacking people all over town BEFORE they victimize innocent people.
Needless to say, Rybak and friends won't be easily persuaded to make the budget appropriations necessary to make the police force an actual force. History clearly shows that they are content to keep the MPD at the bare minimum and add officers only after several high profile murders have been commited.
It should also be noted that the Hennepin County justice system is a joke and the lack of outrage speaks volumes as to where Mpls liberal leaders and faithful voters place criminal justice and people's security on their list of political causes.
Andrew Rothman said it quite well, but I want to put it a somewhat different way. The major point which I learned in a (un-)concealed-carry permit course about four years ago is that in Minneapolis, the person-with-permit using a gun to protect himself will be considered to be the criminal. (The guy mugging you will be the victim!)
And the advice from the professional gun course teachers who comment on Rambix to just stay away from trouble spots, and if caught in such a trouble spot, just run like hell, is no consolation.
Certainly, it seems a poor recommendation to Minneapolis citizens to pay for a gun course, and pay for a (un-)concealed permit, if one dares not carry on the street for fear of finding oneself unawares in one of those trouble spots, with the only option being to run like hell.
The quasi-recommendations by some Rambix commenters to citizens carrying (with permit) in order to protect themselves on the streets of Minneapolis, is in itself dangerous, and the danger comes more from the MPD, the Hennepin County Sheriff, and our illustrious Prosecutor (anyone know her name? hint: AKlo), than from the muggers.
Trying to protect yourself on Minneapolis streets by carrying requires that you be prepared to get yourself a very good criminal defense attorney (probably a minimum outlay of $15,000 to escape doing some time if you only brandish, i.e, pull out, your handgun). Our elected Hennepin County Prosecutor will be vigorously prosecuting you.
And if you get off on the criminal charge, you are still subject to being sued in civil court for monetary damages!
Climb on board and support HF4189 (Rep. Cornish) in the MN legislature next January. This bill would restore victim status to the victim, removing him from being the criminal.
Anyone recall the 1980s movie, Taxi zum Klo?
So, lemme get this right... Even if you SHOW an attacker that you are prepared, without firing, that you can be arrested--and be out 15 G's? What about all those trucks I see in South Minneapolis with bumper stickers that advertise that they are prepared? Are they guilty of threatening anyone, too?
Just so I can understand: you conservatives definitely are against crime committed by Minneapolis minorities, but crimes committed by congressional Republican pedophiles is okay?
What??? I don't think anyone of any political alliance would approve of the perverts.
anonymous,
i think most people posting comments here could care less about what goes on miles away in wash, D.C. than have to worry about being shot in the head just going out to eat in Mpls.
it is true about the culture of mpls. the city is a liberal bastion of appeasement that is dead in the water. i even noticed that the murders last spring didn't get the attention and response it would've got ten years before. you can put the blame on who you want but worry about your own life and safety. this city doesn't care about you as a victim. think of the countless people killed in N.Mpls. that doesn't even generate a public safety emergency approach to containing crime.
also it gets tiring when people compare mpls. to other cities and say it isn't nearly as bad here. the difference here is that most people are more touchy to even minor crime amounts, so they stop frequenting businesses,downtown, and move out of neighborhoods at a faster pace. they even did a study a few years ago finding that residents of ramsey co. had a way higher expectency of being a crime victim than what the very low chances in reality of becoming one are.
they always say to walk in well lit areas, but is it really the best idea? you are just a highlighted target for the trash, so maybe it is better to walk in the dark like the predators do.
To Anon1: Showing (displaying) a bumper sticker is not the same as showing (exposing) a handgun. Certainly, accidentally showing a handgun is not illegal, nor is deliberately showing a handgun illegal unless it constitutes making a threat. But in Minneapolis even accidentially showing a handgun in a confrontation can lead to problems with the police, although minor compared to a situation where you fire your handgun, hitting or missing your target.
Very good criminal defense attorneys charge big bucks - of course, you can retain a cheaper one. But don't forget that opposing your attorney is the County Prosecutor who doesn't have to worry about money - the taxpayers provide it.
Even if you defend yourself with a handgun against a burglar in your own home and call 911 for the police, don't forget to immediately call your criminal defense lawyer (previously identified).
To Anonymous who commented about "crimes committed by congressional Republican pedophiles": Do some checking before going off half-cocked. No crimes have been committed.
Both Foley and the pages are male, and male-male sex is not a crime in D.C. (go to Wikipedia). More important, there was NO sex between Foley and the pages. That was not the case in the early 80s when Democrat Rep. Gerry Studds from Massachusetts did have sex with one of his pages. You also need to bone up on the meaning of pedophilia, which refers to pre-pubescent or pubescent kids. Congressional pages are neither, and they are surely not children.
I'm not sure why somebody would think that a useful way to refute the accusation that Democrats are soft on crime would be to argue that a Republican exchanged creepy emails with an adult page, but, hey, each to his own.
As to defending yourself against a charge of assault for "brandishing", it's probably closer to $5K than $15K -- but do remember that there's no guarantee of winning, and that the odds of there being as much as one permit holder on the jury are somewhere between zero and zip.
Joel, are there any statistics recorded regarding number of incidents of self defense with a gun vs. number of times said victim is charged with a crime? I've heard a lot of news accounts over the years of someone defending themselves with a gun where the police clearly state that they won't be charged because it was self defense. I don't ever remember hearing an account where the victim is charged on the other hand. I'm discounting cases where the victim shot the crook in the back while they were leaving. Either way, I don't own a gun and I've never taken your course, but I can assure you that if I felt myself or my family was threatened in any way I wouldn't hesitate to use whatever force was available to me for protection, deadly or not, and I believe MN law would support me on that.
No, there aren't any good stats. Data collection is, to say the least, very difficult in this area: that the police don't generate numbers on self-defense is just one problem.
I'm not -- in this -- criticizing the cops; they're not field data collectors, after all, and trying to figure out, in a given circumstance, if the guy who is claiming self-defense really did it is beyond their pay grade.
But, no question, victims have been charged -- and not just charged, but tried and convicted. Take a good look at McCuiston -- it's as clear a case of self-defense as you'll ever see, but the jury got it wrong and convicted the guy of murder.
I love getting my NRA magazine every month because there is a column detailing the shootings of criminal scum by those protecting themselves.
The stories always say "There will be no charges filed"
But I haven't seen any from MN, so I wouldn't doubt we've got it backwards in this state.
Comedian Ron White on the death penalty: We have a policy in Texas. If you kill someone, we kill you back.
These articles are from the armed citizen around 1960. Read them and try to imagine AK not prosecuting the law abiding citizen.
Dispatch, St. Paul, MN
State: MN
American Rifleman Issue: 7/1/1962
After being aroused by a homemade burglar alarm in his grocery store next door, Clifford Carlson of Minneapolis, Minn., armed himself and surprised two men in the act of looting the store's cash register. Carlson downed one with a chest shot. While hunting for the second burglar, he found a car with motor running near the store. Shortly thereafter he had the second man trapped and held him for police. The incident brought Carlson's bag of burglars to six since 1959.
Daily Journal, New Ulm, MN
State: MN
American Rifleman Issue: 11/1/1959
After the fourth robbery of their Judson, Minn., implement company, Harvey Rengsdorf and Edwin Fischer went on the alert. From his nearby home Rengsdorf noted prowlers, got his shotgun, phoned the sheriff, and ran to the store with partner Fischer. Two youths inside were preparing to rob the safe while a third sat in a nearby getaway car. When one left the store to get burglar tools and failed to heed a warning to stop, Rengsdorf fired his shotgun. Wounded by the pellets, the felon made it to the getaway car and escaped. The abandoned accomplice, though armed with a pistol, yielded to Rengsdorf's threatening shotgun and informed on his confederates. Police picked them up at their homes.
The Star, Minneapolis, MN
State: MN
American Rifleman Issue: 10/1/1959
John Paul, who lives in a basement apartment below his St. Paul, Minn., furniture store, heard intruders' footsteps and got his cal. .38 revolver. In the dim glow of a street light, Paul saw two burglars and fired several shots at them. One dropped at the scene, critically wounded; the other smashed thrugh the window but was later captured at his home.
http://www.nraila.org/ArmedCitiz...en/
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Society as a whole has been breaking down faster in the U.S. than any other Western nation including Europe for some time now.I recently had a road range incident where I was chased by two thugs in an SUV. I wish a had a gun, my 4 year old had just been dropped off, and they could see that I had the child seat in the car. They didn't care. They approached the car knowing thier could be an infant or young child in the car. They came up to the car very threating manner because I honked at them. The penalty for carrying a loaded gun in California is 500 bucks. Screw the law and the 500 bucks, next time I be ready,locked and fully loaded. Family men these days CANNOT depend on police protection, and shouldn't. Not when your family members lives may hang in the balance at a given moment.You need to have the gun and the hard heart to kill in order to protect them plain and simple, the rest is crap.
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