Merchants Are Doin' It For Themselves
Tired of waiting in vain for the City of Minneapolis to respond to concerns about increasing crime, a business association in the Uptown area is taking matters into their own hands:
Uptown residents will soon see a more prominent police presence after a series of robberies in the neighborhood, but they won't be provided by the city.
The Uptown Business Association will be paying off-duty, uniformed Minneapolis police officers to patrol the area on foot. The officers will cost the association $15,000.
The association's Cindy Fitzpatrick said the extra officers were part of a plan to increase security for the upcoming holiday season, and they are not part of a response to the recent robberies. "We wanted to let [people] know Uptown is safe," she said.
Yeah, that's exactly the message I'm getting.
The neighborhood has been beset by robberies in the past few weeks. One woman was carjacked at gunpoint at the YWCA on Hennepin Ave. S., and another was robbed at gunpoint while with her two-year-old daughter.
One of the most important roles for government is to protect the life, property, and livelihoods of its citizens. The City of Minneapolis is failing miserably to fulfill this basic mission of government, so much so that business owners feel the need to take action on their own accord in order to survive. Not exactly the kind of message that's likely to attract future business.
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