Brooklyn Park officials say nearly half of missing persons reports tied to group homes

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - Brooklyn Park police have read the comments on social media. They know people are wondering why there is suddenly a surge of missing persons reports.

"There’s a range of feedback," says Deputy Chief Elliot Faust, "but what I’m hearing and seeing a lot of is, ‘What’s going on in Brooklyn Park?’ Why are there so many missing people? Are people being snatched off of our streets?"

The answer is no. It boils down to increased transparency in a city with a growing number of group homes.

More group homes, more missing persons

By the numbers:

Brooklyn Park had 194 mission persons reports in 2024 from "congregate living facilities," also known as group homes.

These made up 45% of all missing and runaway reports during that year.

The city didn’t always publicize these on social media because they were commonly residents who were considered to not be a danger to the public and sometimes had simply gone for a walk. But homes are required to report regardless.

In the past five years, of the 1,936 missing person and runaway cases reported to the police, 61% involved individuals who’d been reported missing more than once.

In one case, there have been 33 reports for a single group home resident since 2020.

Public transparency

What we know:

Deputy Chief Elliot Faust says a recent policy change in accordance with state guidelines means every report is now publicized.

"No, we don’t have this crazy problem of missing people that just cropped up in the last two weeks," he tells FOX 9. "Things are stable, we’re just telling the public. And actually, we’re asking for the public’s help now more than ever."

The reason they didn’t publicize all the reports in the past, he says, "is because most of these people return within a matter of two to three hours."

But with mental health issues or medication concerns, there is the worry that even being gone for a few hours could be a risk to their own safety.

Group home concerns for the city

Dig deeper:

As FOX 9 reported previously, Brooklyn Park is concerned about the ever-rising number of group homes in the city that is also bringing in a larger number of registered sex offenders.

The reason for the rise is that the city has no location restrictions where those homes can be placed, such as near schools, churches and parks.

The city is hoping to change their ordinances, but in the meantime, more group homes will be coming to Brooklyn Park. And with that, more missing person reports among residents who wander off, even briefly, and trigger a police report, which taxes the city’s resources.

"Our city has seen a drastic increase in the number of congregate care facilities over the last number of years," says Faust. "That number climbs every single year and so does our missing person reports."