Star Tribune
University of Minnesota police will now handle calls near campus, as MPD staffing declines
Starting this week, the University of Minnesota Police Department will take the lead in responding to all 911 calls near its Twin Cities-East Bank campus as part of a new aid agreement with Minneapolis police.
UMPD’s jurisdiction has historically been limited to property owned or leased by the college, though its officers frequently assist other departments investigating crimes reported in the areas surrounding campuses that span three cities. Responding to a staffing shortage in the Minneapolis Police Department, UMPD will be responsible for all emergency calls in a busy swath of Dinkytown, a Minneapolis area occupied by mostly students, per the new agreement that went into effect Monday.
In a Board of Regents meeting earlier this month, UMPD Chief Matt Clark said Minneapolis police have had “limited capacity” to respond to 911 calls in recent years, “and many of our campus community folks are waiting a long time to get a response from MPD based on historic low [staffing] numbers.”
Clark said UMPD is also stretched thin on staffing, but the department felt a responsibility to help fill the need near campus.
UMPD will respond to all calls in an area covering University Ave to 4th Street SE, and 35-W to Oak Street SE, said university spokesman Jake Ricker.
Last year, UMPD responded to more than 20,000 calls — 10% off campus — Clark told the Regents this month. He said the department employs 58 officers, 15 short of being fully staffed, and they’ve been working overtime to step up patrols at night and on weekends near campus.
At the same time, violent crime in Dinkytown has dropped about 60% since 2021, Clark said.
The Marcy Holmes neighborhood, which includes Dinkytown, as a whole saw violent crime increase by 50% in 2021 compared to 2019, tracking with a citywide trend of rising violent crime beginning in 2020, according to Minneapolis police data.
Star Tribune data reporter Jeff Hargarten contributed to this story.
The DFL candidate for a Roseville seat in the Minnesota House is pushing back on allegations from his Republican opponent that he doesn’t live in the district he hopes to represent.
Curtis Johnson is currently a member of the Roseville Area Schools board. He has owned a home in Little Canada since 2017, according to Ramsey County property records.
In May he filed to run for the open seat in House District 40B, saying he lived in an apartment complex less than 3 miles from his Little Canada home. The district includes parts of Roseville and Shoreview and has been represented by DFLer Jamie Becker-Finn, who isn’t seeking re-election, since 2017.
In a statement, Johnson said he and his wife decided to move to Roseville last year, but they’ve struggled to find the right house. In the meantime, he’s been renting “a Roseville apartment as my primary residence while we keep searching for a forever home.”
“My wife and our youngest child still live in the house because we didn’t want to disrupt our child’s life by moving the rest of the family into my apartment and then moving them again after we found a house in Roseville,” Johnson’s statement said.
Wikstrom released an ad Oct. 15 that accused Johnson of lying about his residency, but he has not committed to making a legal challenge. A residency challenge would be decided by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
“My confidence level is high that we have a solid case he is not a resident of the district,” Wikstrom said in an interview. He noted that Johnson’s vehicle is often at the Little Canada home and a portable storage container appeared out front days after his political ad went online.
An unlicensed driver is now charged on accusations that he was speeding and under the influence of alcohol when he set off a chain-reaction pileup on an interstate exit ramp in Minneapolis, leaving one person dead and several others injured.
Talon Covie-Cardell Walker, 29, of St. Paul, was charged late Thursday afternoon in Hennepin County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the seven-vehicle pileup about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday after exiting from eastbound Interstate 94 toward Lyndale Avenue.
Walker remains held without bail ahead of a court appearance Friday afternoon. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
A search warrant affidavit was filed in court by the State Patrol that cleared the way for Walker’s blood to be collected to measure his degree of intoxication. Results are pending. The affidavit said Walker was “pushing 100 mph when taking the ramp, [and] it appears no braking took place before the crash.”
Walker was driving without a valid license, according to the state Department of Public Safety. In late 2019, his license was suspended, then it was revoked in spring 2021, the agency said.
Court records in Minnesota show Walker has traffic convictions for careless driving and operating a motorcycle without a license. State records also show convictions for illegal weapons possession, disorderly conduct, a minor drug offense and twice for violating a court no-contact order.
Walker’s passenger, 20-year-old Taniyah Randle-Smith, was taken by ambulance to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, according to the patrol. A hospital spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon that she was in critical condition.
Killed in the crash was Natalie Gubbay, a 26-year-old SUV driver from Minneapolis, whose vehicle was struck by Walker’s. Her passenger, Molly Elizabeth Brenton, 28, of Virginia, Minn., was taken to HCMC with noncritical injuries.
A juvenile has died while in detention at the Red Wing correctional facility in southeastern Minnesota.
Officials with the Minnesota Department of Corrections said staff on Saturday found an inmate who was unresponsive. Authorities attempted life-saving measures, which were unsuccessful. Paramedics arrived and the resident was pronounced dead at the scene, said spokeswoman Shannon Loehrke.
An investigation is underway to determine how the inmate died, she added.
No information about the identify of the deceased was released.
The Red Wing facility has a capacity of 88 inmates.
