A deeper look at Minneapolis crime rates

Data show an overall decrease in Minneapolis crime, but also reveal recent upticks in rates for various violent crimes.

September 19, 2018 at 7:37PM

Crime rates in Minneapolis have decreased, though a closer look at Minneapolis Police Department data reveals certain kinds of crime became more common in the past two years.

Data spanning 2000 through 2017 draws a longer trend line putting recent crime rate trends in better context. For instance, though violent crime overall has decreased citywide, it marks the end of a gradual 17 percent rise in rates between 2011 and 2016.

And despite that overall violent crime decrease from 2016 to 2017, the rates for crimes like rape, burglary and homicide increased.

Certain areas of Minneapolis also have more reported incidents than others, with Downtown Minneapolis neighborhoods seeing highest rates of reported crimes due to low resident populations and high numbers of commuters and visitors. Other areas with higher rates include the lower North Side and parts of Northeast.

Additionally, the hours from midnight to early morning relatively have the highest concentrations of reported crimes on average, especially in the city core.

about the writers

about the writers

Jeff Hargarten

Data Journalist

Jeff Hargarten is a Minnesota Star Tribune journalist at the intersection of data analysis, reporting, coding and design.

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Libor Jany

Reporter

Libor Jany is the Minneapolis crime reporter for the Star Tribune. He joined the newspaper in 2013, after stints in newsrooms in Connecticut, New Jersey, California and Mississippi. He spent his first year working out of the paper's Washington County bureau, focusing on transportation and education issues, before moving to the Dakota County team.

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