Robberies Up, Crime Patterns Shift Near Light Rail Construction

St. Paul police say the number of people getting robbed on the street is up along the light rail route, typically at bus stops and on street corners. In the past month, more than half of all the robberies in St. Paul were on University Avenue.

But the construction is causing the number of other crimes to go down. Police have seen a 22 percent drop in in shoplifting in April, May and June this year because some businesses are harder to get to. Arrests for prostitution and gang-related activity are also down this year.

St. Paul police believe crimes that are down now may spike once light rail is done because more people will travel along University Avenue.

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