One option presented to some vendors has been to register for the state’s Cottage Food Producer permit, based on a 2015 law that allows people to “make and sell certain nonpotentially hazardous food and canned goods in Minnesota without a license.”

Chavez said that’s a step in the wrong direction. Such a permit would allow vendors to sell homemade baked goods and pickled fruits and vegetables, but still wouldn’t allow them to operate on city sidewalks or in traffic.

“People might apply, but it isn’t actually going to address the root issue that people are struggling with,” he said.

The issue is one of equity according to Chowdhury, who said some vendors don’t have the necessary knowledge or resources because they’re still new to the country. Licensing or permit fees become barriers for new vendors trying to become compliant.

“When it comes to folks that are immigrants, new to our community, that’s an incredible barrier. So if we’re going to do economic empowerment, that’s the barrier that we want to help resolve, and so I’m 100 percent supportive of waiving these fees,” she said.

Claudia Lainez, workers’ center director at COPAL, a Latino advocacy organization, said they have been monitoring the growth of street vendors across the metro area specifically because many are undocumented. She said vendors tend to be women because men, even undocumented, typically struggle less to find work.

Those who are targeted often don’t bother filing a formal police report, he said, because of the perception no one will ever be held accountable. Victims are given a case number and frequently receive no follow-up from authorities.

“What will they do about it?” Dakane said. “It’s a waste of time.”

O’Hara acknowledged that understaffing remains a chronic issue at MPD, but urged residents to report such crimes so they can better track the problem. The department launched a “South Side React” team earlier this year to proactively address rising crime, he said, and has seen some success with its new robbery protocol, which redeploys resources and pauses all other service calls to thwart robbery sprees in a specific area.

Police officials sought to expand ShotSpotter, the city’s acoustic gunshot detection system, this summer to broader swaths of south Minneapolis experiencing surges in gun violence, but were forced to roll back the coverage plan over concerns by members of the City Council’s progressive wing, who have expressed skepticism about its ability to curb gun violence. The more limited expansion does not stretch into south Whittier, O’Hara noted, or the nearby hot spot of 19th and Nicollet, where police have seen much spillover.

“I don’t feel safe in my own frickin’ neighborhood,” said Chris Sonnesyn, 59, a longtime Whittier resident who was assaulted in July. When Sonnesyn, an independent contractor, discovered that a homeless man had broken into a client’s apartment and caused $500 in damage, he offered the man a job rather than calling police.

To Sonnesyn’s surprise, the man showed up for work the next day and spent several hours mowing lawns. But as Sonnesyn went to the garage to grab him a soda, the man pulled a rope from his backpack and attempted to strangle Sonnesyn.