Minneapolis PD Chief on smash-and-grab thefts: Juveniles 'falling through cracks'
Minneapolis PD talks string of smash-and-grabs thefts
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara joined FOX 9 All Day on Wednesday to discuss issues, including a string of smash-and-grab thefts in the city.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara lamented that the judicial system isn't prepared to deal with some juvenile offenders, as he discussed recent smash-and-grab theft sprees in Minneapolis during an interview on FOX 9 All Day.
Smash-and-grab thefts in Minneapolis
The backstory:
On Tuesday, Chief O'Hara spoke with media members about the recent smash-and-grab thefts that have hit the city. In recent weeks, police said 500-plus cars had been damaged.
During a spree in the early morning hours of Tuesday, there were 100-plus reports of damage to vehicles. Police said there have also been similar reports in neighboring cities, including Bloomington and Brooklyn Park.
Police said they recovered two stolen vehicles connected to the sprees and arrested three juveniles.
What they're saying:
The chief appeared on FOX 9 All Day for an interview Wednesday afternoon, during which he tackled multiple subjects.
Discussing the thefts, he admitted that part of the problem is juvenile offenders who have fallen through the cracks.
"Unfortunately. I think there's a very small percentage of juveniles that are very much at risk to themselves and their own safety, let alone to the safety of the community. And at times they fall through the cracks. At times, they're so active that the system just is not prepared to deal with them properly. And I think we've seen that over the last couple of years here, especially with the problems that we've seen around stolen cars," he said.
O'Hara said the same issues surrounded robbery sprees the city saw last year.
"It's frustrating to, again, be dealing with this problem," he added. "It's very, very man-power intensive to try and create cases for each of these victims. We're talking about over 500 victims here in the last month. To bring charges in each of those cases would require the police being able to prove which kids specifically broke each window in each of those instances. So it is very, very man-power intensive."
And, as the chief notes, the charges brought in the case will only be misdemeanors.
Hennepin County Attorney's claim is ‘bizarre,’ chief says
What they're saying:
The chief also weighed in on claims that Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty made during an appearance on All Day earlier this month.
Moriarty, while discussing her decision not to run for re-election, discussed her working relationship with Chief O'Hara – which has at times been publicly contentious.
"I’ll tell you this – he won’t return my call," said Moriarty. "I’d be happy to talk about what’s happening, but he won’t return my call, and has not for probably over a year. I can’t speak to why he doesn’t speak to me, and why MPD won’t do a press conference with us."
Speaking on Wednesday, the chief denied Moriarty's depiction, saying: "I remember, it's at least a year and a half ago, the first time she said that publicly – that I won't return her phone calls. I have not had one single call from her in that time since. So I mean it's just bizarre that that's being said again. At the same time, the reality is, all day long, the people below me – our investigators, our command staff – are working every single day with the career prosecutors to bring cases and to bring justice for victims. So the work is getting done by the people that are actually doing it."
"I'm open to having a conversation with the county attorney," the chief added. "It's just, it's weird that it's being presented in this way."
Trump using National Guard for general crime ‘doesn't make sense'
What they're saying:
The chief also weighed in on President Trump deploying the National Guard in Washington, DC. The president announced last week he would federalize the DC police department to deal with crime in the city – despite data showing crime was on the decline in the city.
O'Hara says the National Guard can obviously serve a purpose but using the National Guard to handle general crime "doesn't make sense."
"I think there's value, of course, in having help from all of law enforcement, federal law enforcement, even from help from National Guard," said O'Hara. "But it's, particularly with the National Guard, it's specific to what is appropriate for them to do. And they've been used in different ways around the country, whether it's securing mass transit in New York and after 9/11 and those types of things. But to deploy National Guard as if they're in some way useful for general patrol duties or general crime suppression, just doesn't make sense."