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U of M Police consider adding Dinkytown “safety center”
It’s not clear where the center would be located, but UMPD envisions the concept as a central hub for police, students and community groups.
MINNEAPOLIS — University of Minnesota Police are exploring the addition of a “safety center” somewhere in the heart of Dinkytown, in response to lingering crime concerns in the off-campus neighborhood comprised mostly of students.
UMPD Chief Matt Clark unveiled the proposal during a Board of Regents presentation on Friday. Although details remain scarce, the safety center would essentially act as a central hub for police, students and community groups. Along with the safety center, Clark said his department also plans to expand a mutual aid agreement with Minneapolis Police — which holds primary jurisdiction over Dinkytown — by assisting them with more non-emergency 911 calls in the area.
“We believe an off-campus safety center would be a valuable resource for the campus community, but it would also be a location for our safety ambassadors, some of our community elders we work with, especially in the summer, and our first responders to go to at night,” Clark said. “We think not only answering lower-level calls and expanding our mutual aid, but also adding an off-campus safety center would be beneficial.”
Clark did not say how much the project might cost, nor did he say where exactly the safety center would be located. However, he said the department is exploring options to either lease a private building or use existing university-owned space in Dinkytown.
The center could open as early as the fall, according to Clark.
“The idea behind that is investing more in an area of Dinkytown that has safety issues,” Clark said.
During Friday’s meeting, Clark reported a 60-percent drop in violent crime in Dinkytown from 2021 to 2023. Although his department does not have primary jurisdiction over the area, UMPD has assisted MPD with security cameras and the presence of at least two police officers each night.
Still, some high-profile incidents — such as a double homicide last December at a tobacco shop — show there’s more work to be done.
U of M sophomore Dave Cornell said he thought the safety center sounded like a “good idea.”
“I do [already] see patrol cars out and about, and that does make me feel safer,” he said, “just to see their presence.”
Erin Brumm, a director on the board of the parent-led nonprofit Campus Safety Coalition, said she’s “very, very supportive” of the concept and urged the Board of Regents to move the proposal forward.
“Honestly, we can’t wait until it opens,” Brumm said. “It’s such a ripe time to have something like that down in that environment. I really hope people get behind it.”
Regent James Farnsworth also expressed enthusiasm.
“I think the Dinkytown Safety Center is a tremendous idea,” Farnsworth told KARE 11, “and I’d like us to be able to move on opening it sooner than the fall.”
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Investigators say 27-year-old Mayan Deng Mayan shot a man following an argument at the unlicensed party at an Uptown business.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man will serve a sentence of more than 34 years in prison after pleading guilty in a fatal shooting at an after-hours party in Minneapolis.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says 27-year-old Mayan Deng Mayan was sentenced to 414 months, or 34 1/2 years in prison for the murder, which took place outside an Uptown Minneapolis business that was holding an after-bar party the morning of Sept. 18, 2022.
Police were dispatched to the Fade Barber Shop on the 1600 block of Harmon Place just before 5:30 a.m. and found 28-year-old Birahim Gildersleve of Rochester suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds.
Gildersleve was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center but did not survive.
Investigators learned the shooting followed a verbal argument outside the party and used surveillance video and a license plate reader to identify Mayan as the shooter. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder.
“Mr. Mayan took the life of Birahim Gildersleve and in doing so, devastated Mr. Gildersleve’s loved ones and damaged a community,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “There is no sentence that can repair the harm, but today’s sentence delivers accountability for Mr. Mayan and is in the interest of public safety.”
Mayan will be credited for 585 days already served.
BCA Special Agent Joe Swenson told jurors that Maddi Kingsbury’s remains were hidden by brush and logs 6 to 10 feet long and appeared to be there “on purpose.”
MANKATO, Minn. — BCA Special Agent Joe Swenson was the first witness called Monday morning, the 8th day of testimony in the 1st-degree murder trial of Adam Fravel for the death of Maddi Kingsbury, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his two children.
Swenson, based in Rochester, took the stand and testified about arriving at the scene where Maddi’s remains were found inside a culvert on June 7, 2023. He recalled that the remains were so hidden that he couldn’t tell where the Fillmore Co. Deputy was pointing until they started moving logs and brush.
The BCA agent described some of the logs in the ditch as being 6-10 feet long and “the size of older wooden powerlines, 6-inches across.”
“It certainly appeared the logs were placed there on purpose,” Swenson said.
Then prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz questioned Agent Swenson about discoveries made during an April 27, 2023, search of the Rochester home Fravel and Kingsbury shared. Jurors were shown photos inside the garage as Agent Swenson testified about finding a roll a roll of black Gorilla duct tape, which seemed to match the tape wrapped around Maddi’s body.
Swenson told the courtroom he also found Wyze-brand surveillance cameras in the garage, which had been taken down from inside the townhome and were not operational on the day investigators believe Maddi was killed.
Last week, prosecutors charged Mary Kay Bower, 42, of St. Paul, with rustling and livestock theft, which is a felony.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — In a YouTube video titled “Rustling is still a thing,” Bloomington Police Chief Booker T. Hodges begins by saying “I’m going to talk to you about a crime that city dwellers don’t often have to talk about.”
Hodges is referring to a woman who was recently arrested and charged with stealing a sheep from a farm in Bloomington.
Last week, prosecutors charged Mary Kay Bower, 42, of St. Paul, with rustling and livestock theft, which is a felony.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, around 6:45 p.m., officers were called to Old Shakopee Road East on a report of a man and woman walking a dog and a sheep.
Bower originally told the officers she had purchased the sheep, according to court documents. However, the man with Bower told officers she “had stepped over the fence to a farm, put a leash on the sheep, and then pulled the sheep through the fence. The male said {Bower} pulled so hard that the sheep was choking.”
Officers said they confirmed with the nearby farm’s owner that the sheep was stolen. The farm’s owner said the “sheep is a breeding hair ram worth approximately $500.”
Chief Booker ended his video by saying the ram was in good condition and Bower’s dog and a “bunny rabbit” that she also had in her possession had been returned to her after she was released from the Hennepin County Jail.
