A report from the Twin Cities, and an invitation for some creative thinking.

[LAS14]

A friend sent me this in reference to complaints in Minneapolis bout the absence of grocery stores in parts of the city, due, often, to intolerable shoplifting. He has spent his whole working life (50 years) in community organizing and peace activism. His progressive credentials are impeccable.

I think this is a phenomenon that we progressives need to think hard about addressing. Clearly we have to go to the root of poverty, but are there any short term approaches that can be implemented?

Yes, this is also a very real problem in our Minneapolis urban areas. Here in my neighborhood we have been trying to be supportive to the four homeless encampments located within a few blocks of our house, totaling about 120 tents and maybe 250 adults and kids. But many of the businesses around us are reporting very dramatic increases in "snatch and grab” thefts for items that can be sold on the street, presumably mostly for drugs and alcohol, though in the case of grocery stores it’s hungry people stealing the food they need. These robberies, pilfering and shoplifting activities target hardware stores, grocery stores, local pharmacies, the local food co-op, two bike shops, etc, in our neighborhood. Theft in one hardware store that we shop at often and try to support because it is family owned and is an independent business reported to me this past week that since the homeless encampments were set up the theft in their store is up so dramatically that they are considering shutting down until the winter cold and ice and snow drive the homeless encampments out of existence as people seek warmth in local shelters. The hardware store owner can no longer make insurance claims out of a fear that all their insurance will be canceled for being in a high crime area.

At the same time we are now finding many needles around on our streets and sidewalks, especially in our alleys, since the homeless community includes many drug users. I now carry a heavy leather “fire” glove when I go over to my office. Our entry door is hidden at the side of a church. Almost every time I go over there to my office I find needles outside our door, where people can shoot up without being seen from the street. We just installed one of those medical waste containers inside the building so we can place the needles there and not in our garbage.

Our local businesses have tried cameras, mirrors, extra “surveillance” staff, locking up expensive or easily pocketed items and signs posted all over the store. None of this has worked. Our neighborhood restorative justice initiative is trying to deal with this, but is overwhelmed by the number of referrals of teens and young adults committing these thefts, and disappointed that after a lengthy restorative justice process and apparent resolution, too many of the kids are immediately caught stealing again.

As our neighborhood fights over whether there should be police or not we had two more armed robberies and a car highjacking within 4 blocks of our house today, in broad daylight, plus multiple thefts and one more car jacking over at the Univ of MN, about a half mile from us, where returning students are now the target. To complicate all of this even more, after news of these latest robberies and car jackings got out via social media several guys on our neighborhood e-forum suggested the answer is for more of us to get “carry” permits and shoot the perpetrators. This is exactly why I worry about the movement to not have police at all. We will end up with vigilante justice and individual shooters out on our streets creating all kinds of carnage.

The only creative idea I’ve seen for locations here in Minneapolis that are considered “food deserts” are mobile groceries, i.e., trucks or buses retro-fitted as small, mobile grocery stores. You probably have those in Boston. Local foundations support these initiatives here in the Twin Cities. Maybe Trader Joes, Whole Foods and the big box groceries could tax themselves to provide food and other items to these mobile groceries, or provide financial support for more vehicles.

These vehicles park in church parking lots, community center parking areas and even just on the street. They have a nice selection of fresh produce in smaller refrigerated units, they have some frozen items and a good selection of other canned, boxed and bagged foods. Several of the CSA’s that we use in our area donate extra food to these mobile groceries. But we only have one or two. They can’t begin to meet the need. One talking head suggested that the Twin Cities alone would need up to 30 mobile groceries to meet the needs of these “food desert” areas. Imagine the need in NYC, Boston, LA, Chicago, etc?

[AJT]

1. We have experienced the same type of problem where I live.

An apartment building to house homeless families opened up and crimes that were unheard of here began happening frequently. We've had var thefts, home invasions, shootings. This is a suburban area where ypu could leave your garage opened while you did yard work, yoi could leave a car in your driveway, etc. That is not true anymore. It has been teenagers and young adults that have been caught(although catching them has been difficult) and they have been residents of the new apartments. These are not crimes to be able to eat. Those arrested are immediately released and commit the same crimes again.

[Blue_true]

2. One of the unfortunate things.

Is that people who rob, loot, injure don’t give a shit about voting or even who the president is. Some of them are just down on their luck, others have varying degrees of psychopathology going on in their heads, harming a person is not a big leap for them. Unfortunately people that do vote see such behavior and Trump’s hatred and his totalitarian “solutions” look promising to them, despite the fact that such methods didn’t work in the past and won’t work today, in fact, they make matters worse (but how does one convince am afraid suburbanite of that?).

[LAS14]

3. We not only need plans, we need a response for the campaign to use. nt

[LAS14]

4. Come on, DUers. Let's put our heads together. Also...

I asked my friend if the influx of homeless had anything to do with the George Floyd protests. Here's his answer.

Minneapolis has a huge shortage of affordable housing. Private developers won’t build it, claiming they can’t make a profit and the State and Feds are not putting enough money into housing. What really drove people out of shelters and into tents is COVID and the fear of being infected in the shelters.