Starting this week, the University of Minnesota Police Department will take the lead in responding to all 911 calls near its Twin Cities-East Bank campus as part of a new aid agreement with Minneapolis police.
UMPD’s jurisdiction has historically been limited to property owned or leased by the college, though its officers frequently assist other departments investigating crimes reported in the areas surrounding campuses that span three cities. Responding to a staffing shortage in the Minneapolis Police Department, UMPD will be responsible for all emergency calls in a busy swath of Dinkytown, a Minneapolis area occupied by mostly students, per the new agreement that went into effect Monday and runs for one year.
In a Board of Regents meeting earlier this month, UMPD Chief Matt Clark said Minneapolis police have had “limited capacity” to respond to 911 calls in recent years, “and many of our campus community folks are waiting a long time to get a response from MPD based on historic low [staffing] numbers.”
Clark said UMPD is also stretched thin on staffing, but the department felt a responsibility to help fill the need near campus.
UMPD will respond to all calls in an area covering University Avenue to 4th Street SE, and Interstate 35W to Oak Street SE, said university spokesman Jake Ricker.
Last year, UMPD responded to more than 20,000 calls — 10% off campus — Clark told the Regents this month. He said the department employs 58 officers, 15 short of being fully staffed, and they’ve been working overtime to step up patrols at night and on weekends near campus.
At the same time, violent crime in Dinkytown has dropped about 60% since 2021, Clark said. It hasn’t vanished, however, as evidenced by a December brawl inside a neighborhood tobacco shop that led to the shooting deaths of two men.
Minneapolis police will still respond to violent crime calls under the new agreement, said Minneapolis Police Department spokesman Garrett Parten.