"Sorry, we're not coming. We don't have enough officers to answer anything except emergency calls."

[question everything]

A letter to the strib (not mine):

I have been a homeowner in north Minneapolis for four and a half years. I always hoped that my Jordan neighborhood would improve with time but no longer believe that it will.

A group of drug dealers and various people (approximately five to 10 people and two to four cars) sit on my block all day and night. They do not live here but have chosen to make the area across the street from my home their "hang-out" place. They bring chairs, sun umbrellas and coolers every day. They stop cars on the street to sell drugs and stolen merchandise. They drink alcohol, smoke pot, play loud music and litter. I contacted 911 when I saw crack changing hands and cars with no license plates, and when threatened by one of the women. The police came a few times but said unless they see a crime being committed, they cannot take action. My final call to 911 came when a police officer phoned me to say, "Sorry, we're not coming. We don't have enough officers to answer anything except emergency calls." I have written Council Member Jeremiah Ellison and Mayor Jacob Frey without response.

I have given up and am now placing my home for sale and moving outside of Minneapolis. The apathy and inaction in this city have taken their toll. I no longer believe in the Minneapolis I used to love. Good luck to all who remain.

Sheree Bochenek, Minneapolis

https://www.startribune.com/readers-write-the-defund-amendment-and-the-state-of-things-in-minneapolis-atvs-and-public-lands/600083854/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. How sad. And unfortunate.

I can't begin to imagine what that's like.

My neighborhood has some issues, but nothing like that. I will add that about a decade ago there were some shady people living in two different homes very near mine. They moved out, and things improved a lot. Lucky me.

[babylonsister]

2. Cops are wary of certain neighborhoods.

It's can be really dangerous, especially if infested with crackies.

I have a few drug houses fairly close by, judging from traffic. I hear it's all over.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. I'm not calling BS here exactly, but unless you were VERY close up

It would be very difficult to tell that crack specifically was 'changing hands'.

Cocaine, Meth, Pills, Heroin, Crack ... pretty much anything apart from a sack of weed, you'd have to look pretty closely to know what was 'changing hands' ... just saying.

My main objection to these people would be the litter, and how convenient that situation would make it to score whenever the mood struck me. You might say I kinda rely on staying away from people like that ... on purpose.

[ret5hd]

4. Something I read earlier that might explain:

Isn’t this lack of manpower because of Covid?

Maybe they should get vaccinated.

[question everything]

5. No. This is the police in Minneapolis where many want to "defund"

Very demoralized and many left.

[ret5hd]

6. Fuck 'em. Act respectable...get respect.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. I can't stop laughing at this letter tbh.

Last edited Tue Aug 3, 2021, 08:35 AM - Edit history (1)

I have been a homeowner in north Minneapolis for four and a half years. I always hoped that my Jordan neighborhood would improve with time but no longer believe that it will.

So she plants herself in north Minneapolis and waits for the neighborhood to take off around her...in less than 5 years, during a faltering economy and a pandemic? I'm curious what exactly she did to help her neighborhood "improve" besides wait.

A group of drug dealers and various people (approximately five to 10 people and two to four cars) sit on my block all day and night.

Various people? Oh no!!

They do not live here but have chosen to make the area across the street from my home their "hang-out" place. They bring chairs, sun umbrellas and coolers every day.

Honestly, it sounds kinda lit.

They stop cars on the street to sell drugs and stolen merchandise. They drink alcohol, smoke pot, play loud music and litter.

Ma'am, you jocularly used the word "hood" to describe your neighborhood on Facebook. I get that a lot of people do so; the word has certainly entered a wider lexicon. However, it looks a little like you expected things to get better simply because you were there. I ask again, what did you *do* to make things better?

I contacted 911 when I saw crack changing hands and cars with no license plates,

How did she know it was crack?

and when threatened by one of the women.

I've seen a lot of Black women talking to white women, and white women saying they feel "threatened" because the discussion gets heated. Someone telling you to mind your business is not necessarily a threat.

The police came a few times but said unless they see a crime being committed, they cannot take action. My final call to 911 came when a police officer phoned me to say, "Sorry, we're not coming. We don't have enough officers to answer anything except emergency calls." I have written Council Member Jeremiah Ellison and Mayor Jacob Frey without response.

Truly, hell hath no fury like an older white women ignored by the police.

Look, I get it -- it's no fun when you speculate on an investment and it doesn't pay off. But if you're going to move into a neighborhood and "hope" it gets better without doing anything about it -- like getting to know your neighbors, joining the Jordan Area Community Council, and organizing -- and then complain when no one does anything, my sympathy is pretty thin. Particularly if that same person posts photos on FB taken through her curtains of a man unloading boxes of toilet paper from the trunk of his car in front of her house on May 29, 2020, calling him a "looter filling his trunk" and saying she won't leave her home because "i need to watch and protect my home...and stand for what is RIGHT and JUST" while a friend comments "I do notice this gentleman has a tan." Stay klassy, Karen!

[rownesheck]

8. My thoughts exactly.

Except I'm calling total BS.

[geardaddy]

9. Yep, I agree.

She seems like a Karen.