Kingfield Comes Together for Crime Prevention

For Kingfield, the end of summer brought cooler temperatures and a . On Tuesday evening, residents convened at the corner of 38th and Grand to get information on just what’s going on and what can be done to prevent it. 

About 25 adults, along with a few children, stopped by Tuesday night’s Crime Prevention and Safety Traveling Block Party to hear from Amy Lavender, Crime Prevention Specialist with the Minneapolis Police Department’s 5th Precinct, and police Lt. Jack Kelly.  

Additional Patrols Added

Lavender said additional patrols have been added to the area. Kelly encouraged residents to call in any suspicious activity, to practice precaution, and to come together with neighbors and the police force to prevent future crime. 

“It’s a team effort,” Kelly said. “That’s really what we’re trying to preach to the community.” 

Kingfield’s Crime Prevention and Safety meetings were moved this summer from their usual indoor locations at local parks to a rotating selection of outdoor meeting points in the area.

Marshall Onsrud of the Kingfield Neighborhood Association said the goal of the meetings remains the same.

“In my point of view," he said, "it’s about getting people to work with each other on a community level and then not being afraid to call police if you see something out of the ordinary.”

Working together as a community

Sarah Gleason, also of the Kingfield Neighborhood Association, praised the summer shift to block party-style crime prevention meetings.

“The idea that this committee had to do these traveling block parties is the most brilliant thing ever,” Gleason said. “We’ve had a crowd about this size every time, and every time it’s a different crowd because we’re in a different location. Normally these meetings had the same six people that came every month; now there’s probably 100 people who got to have these conversations.” 

There was some talk at the block party about the importance of practicing good habits like locking garages and windows to reduce the opportunity for crime, but neighbors Ann Kragenbring and Uli Loichle said negligence hasn’t been the issue in their area of Kingfield. 

“Everybody’s doing the right things. They’ve been talking about garage doors being open, but that’s not what’s happening in our (area); ours is breaking in,” Loichle.

With one break-in, one stolen vehicle and three attempted break-ins in their immediate area, Kragenbring said she’s been diligent about getting the word out to her community. 

“I’ve been trying to educate neighbors and make sure they make the calls,” Kragenbring said. “I think there are a lot of people who didn’t believe it was happening.” 

More information on crime prevention can be found can be found here.