Citizens of SR confront council about crime problem

by Dave DeMars

news@thenewsleaders.com

About 15 residents who dubbed themselves the Second Avenue North Neighborhood Group confronted the Sauk Rapids City Council on Aug. 8 about what they termed a “crime spree.”

Because of the fear of retaliation and being targeted, members of the group asked they not be identified in the following story. The Newsleader respects that concern and will identify speakers in this story with an initial and number.

The problem

Speaking on behalf of the group, speaker A-1 summarized the situation as a rash of thefts, break-ins, burglaries and other sundry crimes. At first A-1 said she thought the break-ins were isolated incidents, but after talking with neighbors up and down the avenue from Anytime Fitness to the apartments at the far north end of the avenue, she came to realize there was a more serious problem.

Fifteen concerned residents attended the meeting, but the group is probably three times that size, according to A-1.

“We have a whole lot of people who are concerned because these people are not afraid to steal. And it’s got to be more than one, it’s got to be a group,” A-1 said, describing the crimes.

A-1 continued to describe various businesses and families along Second Avenue who had been victimized. She described one theft in which the thieves broke the small window in the service entrance of a garage that was near the fire station and was well lit. Once the thieves broke the small window and unlocked the service door, they helped themselves to bicycles stored in the garage.

“You would think when there is that much light, there wouldn’t be so much violence,” she said. “We – there’s not one, but several of us – have heard gunshots at 2 or 2:30 in the morning. This isn’t safe for us, and I just want to know what you guys can do to help us because we need safety, security.”

A-1 continued, saying she understood there were a limited number of officers on duty, and they respond as quickly as they can, but it isn’t soon enough when these break-ins are happening. Seventeen places were broken into within a three-block radius during the month of July, she said. With these kinds of crimes occurring so frequently, she does not feel safe in letting her grandchildren play outside. Other parents there share the same concerns, she added.

“I shouldn’t have to feel that way,” she said. “Two years ago, it wasn’t like this.”

She presented the council with pictures of things that were stolen from her home and from other homes and businesses in the neighborhood.

Another couple, B-2 and C-3, also spoke to the council. B-2 described how when leaving for work early in the morning, he saw a man on a bicycle speaking on a phone, presumably giving directions to another.

“Those lights are on, we can’t go there,” B-2 quoted the man as saying. “I said, ‘What are you doing?”’

B-2 got no satisfactory answer and called the police, but the man was already gone by the time they arrived.

“They are not scared of us,” B-2 said. “Like she (A-1) said, it’s more than we can take care of. They are getting more aggressive.”

B-2 echoed A-1’s concern about leaving his children in the house or letting them play in the yard. He went on to describe a time when his daughter came home early from a wedding reception and was in the house alone. A man walked down the side yard of his house as though looking for something, and it was only the barking of B-2’s dog that frightened the man away.

“It’s getting to the point of being really ridiculous,” said B-2.

C-3 spoke and said in talking with neighbors, it seemed like every person she talked to had been victimized or knew someone who had been. The fact there were gunshots at 2:30 in the morning is very disturbing, she said.

“Who are we supposed to call and what can we tell them?,” she asked the council.

Another member of the audience, D-4, asked about the number of officers on duty at night. Most everyone in Neighborhood Watch programs are asleep at night, he said, so it (the Neighborhood Watch) is not effective at that time. If this is a group and they are not caught, they will grow more bold, he said. And soon the crime will be one of home invasion because it’s obvious this group of thieves is not afraid of being caught, he added.

Near the end of the meeting another audience member said she had motion lights at her house and they had been stolen – not once, but three times. She hasn’t replaced them since the last time because it doesn’t seem to offer any security.

Searching for a solution

Police Chief Perry Beise empathized with the group and said it was unfortunate there were individuals who were looking to steal property but probably didn’t want to be confronted. It (property theft) seems to pick up during the summer. Most stuff is taken from unlocked garages and unlocked vehicles, he noted. Typically, the thieves leave locked doors alone in favor of easier targets.

Beise complimented the group on banding together to help one another and the police. The Neighborhood Watch has been developed specifically for this kind of thing with neighbors watching out for neighbors and sharing that responsibility. The first police officers and security were simply night watchmen who were citizens and who watched out for the community, he said.

“We can’t be everywhere, we can’t see everything, ” Beise said. “We depend on the citizens to call us – to tell us when things happen – to be our eyes.”

Council member Kurt Hunstiger spoke carefully, saying because it was the night before an election (he is a candidate), he would be judicious in his comments. He added the city is somewhat understaffed at the moment because of new personnel being in training, but he reminded the council in previous sessions dating back to the beginning of the year, he had pushed for a police reserve and for hiring more police officers.

Council member Steve Heinen questioned Beise as to when the two people in training would be ready to go on full-time active status. Beise said he was not quite sure but estimated two or three more months.

Beise spoke again, saying it might be possible to address the problem using some overtime hours, but that has its own constraints. Hunstiger immediately asked what those constraints might be. Beise explained at some point, it might not be possible to staff fully.

Hunstiger said if security is the issue, the overtime should be used to get the job done. The council has relaxed the guidelines for use of overtime in some cases, he said, so funding shouldn’t figure in the equation.

Mayor Brad Gunderson interjected it was not simply a matter of funding but a matter of having personnel available to do some of the normal staffing.

“How long can officers be asked to put in overtime before they are simply worn out?,” he asked..

Hunstiger questioned again, asking whether there was another retirement coming up in the near future, and if that was the case, the department would be understaffed again, he said.

City Administrator Ross Olson thanked the residents for coming to the meeting and sharing concerns with the council. He wanted them to know the council was concerned with the problem as well as all the various facets of safety service provided by the city.

“The council is working on it and we do appreciate your comments and your telling us how this is affecting your life personally,” he said.

C-3 challenged Olson, asking exactly how the council had been working on the crime problem on Second Avenue. Olson replied the council goes through a budgetary analysis, and the council has been looking at staffing levels for all departments including law enforcement.

“I’m just looking at and wondering what kind of time frame are we looking at to try and get some help?” said C-3. “I feel waiting until November is not acceptable. Our oldest, who had a man walk right next to her, is 18 years old. And now she is scared in her own home.”

C-3 went on saying her daughter is old enough to understand the situation, and she is still uneasy about taking her dog out for a walk. She went on to say she understood there was no magic fix for the problem, but there has to be something better.

“What are we supposed to tell our kids?” she asked. “That the city council is talking about it and working on it? Give ’em a month, give ’em a year?”

Gunderson interjected that despite the fact the council would like to get officers in the field sooner, they still have to undergo training and that takes time. We simply can’t put them out on their own any faster, he said.

Discussion turned to trying to find police officers who were already trained, but Beise said the available pool of officers simply doesn’t exist. Where once the department received 150 applications for a job, they now receive only 30, and the department is in competition with other city police departments.

Gunderson asked whether use of cameras in the area might be useful. Beise said that might be a partial answer, but more effective is for homeowners to make sure they lock up tight and keep everything secure and to call police when they see something amiss. Beise maintained the department was relatively well staffed and had the ability to respond.

Gunderson asked if more patrols in the area might be a good idea. Beise said that could be done.

Members of the neighborhood group restated their concerns, saying they pay taxes and deserve better. Was the council really asking them to wait until November for police protection?, they asked.

Council members and administrators as well as Beise offered to attend neighborhood meetings to help organize Neighborhood Watches and do what they could to make the Second Avenue North neighborhood a more secure area, but neighbors were asked to shoulder much of the responsibility to safeguard themselves.

The aftermath

Meeting briefly with members of the group outside council chambers after the meeting, group members expressed hope, fear and dissatisfaction. They asked they not be identified and expressed fear they might be targeted further and in more violent ways. One member, A-1, said the crime problems in the area had been ongoing for a year or more. Another said he had lived in the area for 14 years and had felt safe, but he no longer felt that way.

“It’s more like inner city than small town,” he said.

Another man said he had lived on Second Avenue for 24 years and it was only in the last five years he felt so uneasy he began to lock doors and windows.

Still another individual wondered whether the source of the problem might not be open enrollment at the schools. People come from everywhere and we don’t know them, she said. B-1 echoed that theme, saying a nice school was built and he didn’t mind paying the taxes, but he did not like the idea of supporting surrounding communities with their poor schools. That’s unfair, he said.

Before the group disbanded, C-3 said she and her husband were so fearful they are going to get conceal-and-carry permits to protect themselves and their family. She said she would use force if she or her family felt threatened by an intruder in their home.