Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis announces plan to flag police officer problems early
Minneapolis leaders on Monday announced they had selected a company to build a database designed to flag problems with police officers — before they become problematic.
The idea is a technological approach — an “early intervention system” — to both support officers in need of say, mental health services, while also preventing cops with patterns of potential misconduct from ascending the ranks unchecked.
The latter was arguably the case for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had pressed his knee against the necks of at least two men before he did the same maneuver to George Floyd in 2020. Floyd’s murder by Chauvin was the impetus for state and federal legal interventions that will lead to years of court-approved police oversight. City officials see an early intervention system as satisfying one of a litany of changes mandated by those legal cases.
“People say all the time, ‘How could they not know that this officer would do that?’” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference Monday. “This is the answer to that.”
On Monday, Mayor Jacob Frey, O’Hara and other officials announced that after a national bidding process, they had selected Benchmark Analytics, a Chicago-based firm that includes researchers at the University of Chicago and has implemented similar systems in several other major cities, to build the Minneapolis system.
“It is not going to solve all our problems,” O’Hara said. He emphasized that the system “is not discipline” but rather an “early-warning system” that can identify potential concerns for officers that go beyond traditional complaints around misconduct.
O’Hara said the database will analyze information — such as overtime, patterns of calling in sick, arrest records and off-duty work — in search of outliers. The program can assist supervisors, who can intervene in an attempt to “correct officers’ behavior” before actual problems arise, he said.
Nick Barkley, a civilian member of a team implementing the program, said officer wellness was an essential part of it. “Happy, healthy humans produce the best work,” he said.
The five-year contract for $2.375 million needs approval from the City Council, which could take up the measure as soon as Thursday.
The money would be paid in part by a $500,000 grant from the Pohlad Foundation. The rest of the funding would come from general fund spending from the city’s police and information technology budgets.
A Minneapolis grocery store owner faces felony charges in what investigators say was a million-dollar food assistance fraud scheme.
Abdid-Wahid Mohamed is accused of using other people’s EBT cards to get more than a million dollars to buy items from wholesale stores that he later sold at his own store.
EBT cards work like debit cards for low-income families who receive government-paid benefits.
Investigators said Mohamed owned Minnesota Food Grocery LLC near West Lake Street in Minneapolis and was seen buying items such as energy drinks and baby formula with EBT cards that did not belong to him.
Investigators said Mohamed then loaded the goods into his vehicles and took them to Minnesota Food Grocery, where they were unloaded and placed on store shelves for resale.
The court filing says one woman identified as F.F. told investigators she had not paid for groceries at Minnesota Food Grocery for more than 1.5 years after agreeing to let Mohamed use her EBT card.
The charging document says that between March 8, 2021 and Aug. 10, 2021, Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments.
If convicted, Mohamed could face up to 20 years in prison.
Food insecurity in Minnesota: SNAP cuts and rising demand
Minnesota food shelves are facing growing pressure as potential federal SNAP cuts, rising grocery prices and increased demand strain already limited resources. Some providers also report impacts tied to recent immigration enforcement activity, with families hesitant to seek assistance. Wendy Behm of ACBC Food Shelf joins to discuss how organizations are responding, efforts to combat food insecurity across the state, and what’s at stake during the current legislative session. Learn more at acbcfoodshelf.com.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A Minneapolis grocery store owner is facing a felony charge after investigators say he trafficked more than $1.1 million in SNAP benefits using other people’s EBT cards.
SNAP benefits trafficking investigation leads to felony charge
What we know:
According to criminal charges filed in Hennepin County Court, Abdidwahid Mohamed, owner of Minnesota Food Grocery LLC, is accused of using EBT cards registered to other people to purchase items like energy drinks and baby formula at Sam’s Club and Costco between March 8, 2021 and August 10, 2021. The goods were then resold at his store.
The complaint states law enforcement says they watched Mohamed make the purchases and tracked him returning directly to his store with the items. Video surveillance and GPS data confirmed the trips, and investigators say many of the EBT cardholders were out of the country or denied shopping at the stores Mohamed visited.
The complaint states, “Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments” during the period in question. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to help low-income households buy food, with benefits issued through EBT cards that work like debit cards.
Wal-Mart team sparks investigation
The backstory:
The investigation began when Wal-Mart’s Global Investigation Team flagged suspicious EBT transactions at Sam’s Club locations in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was contacted in May 2021, and surveillance of Mohamed followed.
The complaint states on Aug. 10, 2021, law enforcement executed search warrants at Mohamed’s store and vehicles. He was arrested at a Sam’s Club in Bloomington with an EBT card and a handwritten note containing a PIN number. Interviews with more than two dozen EBT cardholders revealed that many claimed their cards were lost or had never been used at the stores in question.
One woman admitted she had not shopped at Minnesota Food Grocery for more than a year-and-a-half after agreeing to let Mohamed use her EBT card.
The complaint states the offense “involved a high degree of sophistication or planning or occurred over a lengthy period of time.”
What’s next:
If convicted, Mohamed faces up to 20 years in prison or a $100,000 fine.
The Source: Information from a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.
Minneapolis, MN
Truck driver dead after crash sends Metro Transit bus into home in south Minneapolis
It happened early Monday morning in Minneapolis.
One person is dead and another is hospitalized after an early-morning crash in south Minneapolis on Monday that sent a Metro Transit bus into a home.
It happened at around 4 a.m. at 10th Avenue South and East 38th Street, just a few blocks east of George Floyd Square.
A spokesperson for Metro Transit police tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that a truck was speeding down 10th Avenue when it hit the back of the bus, ripping a tire off the bus and sending it into the front of a home.
The driver of that truck died, according to Metro Transit police, while the driver of the bus was taken to a hospital but is expected to be OK.
Officials say nobody besides the driver was on the bus at the time, and the home the bus hit was also empty at the time.
Investigators are still at the scene, working to clean up all of the debris and determine exactly what led up to the crash.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is at the scene and working to learn more. Download the KSTP app and follow 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on social media for the latest updates.
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