[Mpls] Murderapolis: Time to Move Beyond Triage

[Dennis Plante]

Peter McLaughlin writes:
On the police pension, it is an issue today.  If the Mayor hadn?t sent the 
money back, we would have had the benefit of the state aid right now to put 
police officers on the street right now, when we need them.  The Mayor chose 
not to, so we don?t have the money, and we don?t have the officers on the 
street.  And violent crime is up. . . . right now.  It?s a real issue that 
the Mayor is responsible for.

Dennis Plante Responds:
For those of us that are not familiar enough with the specifics of the 
issue, it would be good if you'd point-out specifically how many officers 
this would have added.  In "real" numbers.


Peter McLaughlin writes:
The benefits of the police pension money do not come, as David suggests, in 
even amounts over the 30 years.  They are front-end loaded, thus providing 
real benefits right now when we need them.  It?s not a silver bullet, but it 
is a source of real resources in the short-term when we are experiencing 
this spike in crime and shortage of officers.  I lay that problem at the 
Mayor?s feet.

Dennis Plante Responds:
Having lived-in the midst of one of the most crime-ridden areas of 
Minneapolis for the last 8 years, I have become entirely convinced that you 
cannot "arrest away" a problem such as what we are currently experiencing.  
I am interested in finding-out what your specific stance would be with 
bringing about a workable solution that brought all the resources to bear in 
solving the problem.  How would you deal with "leaders" (and which ones) 
from the minority communities?  What part do you see the judicial system and 
corrections playing in this?  What specifically would you do to increase the 
activities (and jobs) available to young adults and chldren.  Especialy in 
the neighborhoods where we experiences the biggest issues?

dennis plante
lind-bohanon