University of Minnesota deploys safety measures to quell crime near campus

University of Minnesota students will see more police officers and new citizen safety ambassadors patrolling near campus this fall as the school seeks to reduce crime in the area.

U leaders outlined their latest public safety efforts, which include increased surveillance and neighborhood infrastructure improvements, to the Board of Regents on Friday. The safety focus comes as thousands of students have returned and follows a year in which crime near campus rose to its highest point in a decade, despite less foot traffic amid the pandemic.

"Safety on campus has actually been stable, but our city and our surrounding neighborhoods are not immune to the public safety challenges and trends that are occurring here and in metros all over the country," U President Joan Gabel said. "We're continuing to invest significant resources into this critical effort."

The University of Minnesota Police Department has hired three new officers and is paying its force overtime to patrol the Dinkytown neighborhood, which has been the center of the campus-area crime spike. Hennepin County sheriff's deputies and Minneapolis police are also helping patrol.

A Hennepin County social worker will embed in the area, too, as will a new community liaison the U hired.

Starting next week, the citizen safety ambassadors will begin patrolling Dinkytown on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, U Police Chief Matthew Clark said. They will report suspicious activity to law enforcement, remove graffiti, pick up garbage and provide escorts or directions to those who seek them.

"Not only will they be a long-term solution and a long-term resource to the Dinkytown residents, but also to our campus community," Clark said.

The U is working with Minneapolis and Xcel Energy to add more street lighting in key areas. And the university is installing eight emergency phone boxes along the perimeter of campus and in Dinkytown, Clark said. The phone boxes, which have security cameras, connect students to campus police.

Students can also sign up for self-defense classes and use the university's Gopher Chauffeur service that provides free rides home late at night.

"We want to provide the best possible safety experience for those who live, work and enjoy these areas," said Myron Frans, U senior vice president for finance and operations.

At the same time, U leaders are considering recommendations from an outside expert they hired to review the campus police department. That expert found some students feared being harmed by campus officers. Students have been critical of the department assisting other law enforcement agencies at protests off campus, too.

The U is reviewing its policy for assisting other agencies and evaluating the training its campus officers go through, Gabel noted.

Clark stressed to the regents that the university may need to increase the size of its campus police force, which currently has 58 officers, in the coming years if crime remains high.

"The average is about 70 [officers] … for Big Ten communities like ours, and we need to get to that at some point," Clark said.

Ryan Faircloth • 612-673-4234

Twitter: @ryanfaircloth