Mpls Crime: Violence Down, Vibes Off, Chief Silent

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

Strib's Big Mpls Crime Report: Violence Down, but Residents Wary

It's time for the Strib's periodic deep dive into Minneapolis data (gift link), courtesy of reporters Louis Krauss and Jeff Hargarten.

We'll give you the good news first—and it is largely good news. "The city has recorded about 50 fewer shootings, nine fewer homicides and a third fewer carjackings and other robberies compared to last year," according to Hargarten and Krauss. "Stolen vehicles, at record highs in 2023, have fallen by a quarter."

And certain rates of crimes have shrunk to pre-pandemic levels, with fewer robberies (18%) and burglaries (28%) in 2025 compared to the first nine months of 2019. On the North Side, a 33% drop in shootings corresponds with record lows for gun violence in the area.

But the story isn't the same on the South Side, including in the Fifth Precinct, where there have been more shooting victims this year than last. (The Annunciation Church shooting, which killed two children and injured 28 others, took place in this precinct.) Gun violence remains high in the Whittier neighborhood, though it has decreased slightly from last year, and mass shootings in Phillips and Longfellow have those neighborhoods outpacing their totals from last year.

Also on the rise: thefts from vehicles, shoplifting (up a third from last year), and thefts from buildings (up about a quarter). And that, along with three recent mass shootings along Lake Street, helps fuel the sense that crime is high, which, as a few interviewees expressed to the Strib, is still a lingering feeling for many residents.

Interesting side note: MPD did not provide an interview with Chief Brian O’Hara, Krauss and Hargarten report, though the chief seemingly had hours to spend with reporter-turned-consultant Rick Kupchella for his recent "Minneapolis bad" "documentary" A Precarious State. Maybe these findings don't line up with the "city still burning" mentality, which O'Hara found time to complain about with the New York Post as recently as May.

Will Trump Send the National Guard to MN?

And speaking of falling crime numbers... not quite the time to send in the National Guard, eh? But if you've been nursing a quiet anxiety that the Twin Cities seems like the kind of place Trump would target after Chicago and Portland well, our governor shares your concerns.

“It’d be logical for them to come here," Tim Walz said during a Strib business summit Tuesday during a conversation with New York Times correspondent Lisa Lerer and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. "We fall into exactly what it looks like they’re trying to target—blue cities in places that he wants to make an impact."

Haha, cool!

Illinois is suing to stop Trump’s deployment, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday; the president's attempts to send troops to Portland earlier this week were stopped by a federal judge. Weird, slow-moving civil war we've got here, huh?

Recent Twin Is Indie Rock Royalty (Adjacent)

The Minnesota Twins traded outfielder Harrison Bader to the Philadelphia Phillies in July, but we've gotta tip our hats to the Philadelphia Inquirer for this scoop: Bader is the cousin of Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio.

Man, really wish we put that together when he was still in town.

Is getting on base at all like slappin' da bass? Well, the outfielder says, reaching quite a bit... maybe! Here's what he tells the Inquirer's Gabriela Carroll:

“In many ways, we’re a part of a band in baseball too, [we] maybe just have different instruments,” Bader said ahead of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Obviously, ones that don’t necessarily make the type of music people listen to, but when we hit batting practice or whatever—that sound off the bat or the sounds of the games really are music to us. I do think that they’re all performative in a way, and I think the art in all of them are really connected.”

Baio says he's hoping to catch his cuz playing as a Phillie in L.A. Wednesday night. Vampire Weekend's latest, last year's Only God Was Above Us, was a home run with critics and fans.

Meet "Joe Mauer of Mahtomedi"

And speaking of strained metaphors... ah, I can't even be mad at this, it's too darn cute. White Bear Press has an adorable story about Mahtomedi Public Works Department Director Bob Goebel, the "Joe Mauer of Mahtomedi," who's been working for the city in various public works roles since 1995.

"Mauer caught 100 mph fastballs, and Goebel has caught fawns and monitor lizards. Both aspired to be franchise players, and both were," reporter Loretta Harding writes with declarative swagger.

While Mauer only spent 15 years with the Twins, Goebel is in his 30th year with the department, and he's showing no signs of slowing down. But the two share a lot of other characteristics, among them the fact that they're incredibly reliable team players.

“I interact with Bob every day,” city engineer John Sachi tells White Bear Press. “I have both his work number and private number and when I can’t reach one, I try the other. He answers all the time.”