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Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

startribune.com

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Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#31

Post by germinalphrase »

grapescheesee wrote: post #30
germinalphrase wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are giving the impression that this is an organized crime issue and that these cars are being stolen for financial gain, but I live in Minneapolis and everything I’m hearing is that it is joyriding teenagers with guns. Everything about it is reckless, dangerous and scary - but I don’t think anyone is doing it “professionally” (and I’m skeptical that any organized “boxing in” is taking place). And I know this nex…

I agree as well with this partially. I have mainly heard the statements along the lines. 'It's teenagers' executing the theft. From the wide spread and increasing amounts it seems to follow, more organized members are involved with what would be required next. I won't pretend to state what happens to a stolen car. I have nothing but speculation and the obviously known facts. I can guess that given the targets are new…

That sounds plausible. There’s so much wild speculation taking place. Would certainly be nice to have better information.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#32

Post by grapescheesee »

grapescheesee wrote: post #30
germinalphrase wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are giving the impression that this is an organized crime issue and that these cars are being stolen for financial gain, but I live in Minneapolis and everything I’m hearing is that it is joyriding teenagers with guns. Everything about it is reckless, dangerous and scary - but I don’t think anyone is doing it “professionally” (and I’m skeptical that any organized “boxing in” is taking place). And I know this nex…

I agree as well with this partially. I have mainly heard the statements along the lines. 'It's teenagers' executing the theft. From the wide spread and increasing amounts it seems to follow, more organized members are involved with what would be required next. I won't pretend to state what happens to a stolen car. I have nothing but speculation and the obviously known facts. I can guess that given the targets are new…

Sorry in advance if this parent post is off topic from the posted Edina story. Full disclosure I grew up in the Twin Cities and have many I know well there. It is a wonderful place and has unfortunately found itself at the center of political statements in the last few years and present.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#33

Post by ellisv »

samschooler wrote: post #2

So I am actually from Edina, I don’t currently live there but my parents do. The context of this is a string of robberies and crimes not normally seen in this suburb. Edina is generally seen as a safe suburb, and all of the recent crime came on very sudden. I don’t agree with the program, but since I have some context around it, I thought I’d add to the conversation. [0]: https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/12/11/edi…

I agree. Edina is a low crime area. This feels like a classic cake eater program.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#34

Post by codyogden »

grapescheesee wrote: post #23

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

I live in the heart of south Minneapolis. I really doubt the claim that this is for organized crime for some kind of financial gain. There was an organized ring last year targeting high value cars, but it got busted pretty easily. From the news I’ve seen, it’s almost always joyriding teenagers and stolen vehicles used to commit some other crime.

Uber/Lyft drivers are specifically targeted because they can be easily lured to a semi-remote location by the apps. But multiple criminals using that tactic doesn’t make it “organized crime.” It would make sense that an app driver knows other drivers who have been carjacked, but this M.O. isn’t exclusive to Minneapolis.

Crime is still really low here. I live at a dodgy intersection with major bus lines that brings a lot of characters—good and ‘bad’—around. I don’t worry about walking around even at night. I don’t worry about driving anywhere in this city, even in the areas where carjackings have been “up” (which I travel through frequently in order to reach the now infamous Lake Street Target).

Anyway, fear-mongering comments or anecdotes from people who visit here don’t really express the lived experience of people living in Minneapolis. :)

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#35

Post by ahelwer »

codyogden wrote: post #34
grapescheesee wrote: post #23

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

I live in the heart of south Minneapolis. I really doubt the claim that this is for organized crime for some kind of financial gain. There was an organized ring last year targeting high value cars, but it got busted pretty easily. From the news I’ve seen, it’s almost always joyriding teenagers and stolen vehicles used to commit some other crime. Uber/Lyft drivers are specifically targeted because they can be easily l…

People & especially the media love to play up this stuff. I lived two blocks away from Seattle's CHAZ during the 2020 BLM protests. Watching media coverage of my area compared to the actual experience of walking around and living there was a ridiculous juxtaposition. Even people I know who disapproved of the protests commented on the difference uneasily. I had numerous people from the east side of Lake Washington refuse to come pick up things I was selling on craigslist because they thought they would be mobbed and their car torched or something. Fear sells and there are a lot of people who want to sell it.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#36

Post by magicalist »

grapescheesee wrote: post #23

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

> I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021.

This sounds like a typical made-up crime panic narrative, honestly. The linked story being about a car left running with an infant in it being stolen doesn't help. Terrible, but not at all some boxed-in high octane car theft.

Sibling posts chimed in about actually living there and this not being a thing. I don't live there, so can only search the news, but any stories about car thefts I'm seeing include warnings from the police for people to stop leaving their cars heating up with the keys in them.

We should endeavor to not buy into moral panics but act on data. We've seen from history that good reactions basically never come from decisive responses to crime waves that are actually constructed narratives from a data point or two.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#37

Post by computershit »

magicalist wrote: post #36
grapescheesee wrote: post #23

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

> I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. This sounds like a typical made-up crime panic narrative, honestly. The linked story being about a car left running with an infant in it being stolen doesn't help. Terrible, but not at all some boxed-in high octane car theft. Sibling posts ch…

I live in Minneapolis proper and my car was stolen last month. Not a carjacking, I was one of the idiots that left it running to warm up. The car jacking numbers are mostly legit, I do not know if it’s “organized” though. Catalytic converters getting stolen is a much bigger deal out here right now.

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#38

Post by [deleted] »

grapescheesee wrote: post #23

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

[deleted]

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#39

Post by cphelps01 »

throwawaylinux wrote: post #11
samschooler wrote: post #2

So I am actually from Edina, I don’t currently live there but my parents do. The context of this is a string of robberies and crimes not normally seen in this suburb. Edina is generally seen as a safe suburb, and all of the recent crime came on very sudden. I don’t agree with the program, but since I have some context around it, I thought I’d add to the conversation. [0]: https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/12/11/edi…

What is it about the program you don't agree with, if you don't mind elaborating?

Probably nothing but they hadn't typed 'cake eater' in a while...

Re: Edina Minnesota latest suburb to roll out homeowner surveillance camera program

#40

Post by StopTheWorld »

magicalist wrote: post #36
grapescheesee wrote: post #23

I was in Minneapolis a few months ago and grabbed a Lyft. I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. They are organized and setup drop off points to box the cars in. The 'passanger' then holds them at gun point and another person gets in the driver seat. Stolen phones and credit cards a…

> I started talking with the driver about crime surges, mainly the dramatic car jackings increase. He said 22 people he personally knew have been victims of car jacking in 2021. This sounds like a typical made-up crime panic narrative, honestly. The linked story being about a car left running with an infant in it being stolen doesn't help. Terrible, but not at all some boxed-in high octane car theft. Sibling posts ch…

In some localities and for some time periods, you are more likely to be a victim of homicide as a taxi driver than as a police officer or security guard (in other localities and time periods, policing is usually more deadly). In terms of non-fatal assaults, taxi drivers are right up there with police officers and security guards. The NIOSH and the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Labor, have studies of this going back to the 1990s (https://www.taxi-library.org/oshataxi.pdf ).

Taxi drivers make easy crime targets for a number of reasons. They carry cash, they can be lured to virtually any remote (or easy to escape) location, they are working alone, they are working late at night.

Between 1992 and 1997, at least 50 cab drivers were murdered each year while at work. There may or may not be a recent surge in a specific location, but it has been a dangerous profession for a long time.

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