South Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood leads city in gun violence

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.