Minneapolis police place concrete barriers to deter crime, residents respond to blocked streets
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Following a chaotic and violent night on the Fourth of July — the City of Minneapolis is looking for ways to slow down the uptick in crime.
In the Mill District — where much of the holiday violence took place — police have now put up concrete barriers.
The neighborhood is still getting used to the barriers, with handfuls of drivers do U-turns after seeing them.
Minneapolis police say the goal is to make the mill district safer for the community.
Barricades in places in the Mill District of Minneapolis (KSTP).
In the Mill District — South Second Street is not always this quiet.
“There’s a lot of riff-raff on the streets,” said Steve Eddy, a resident of the Mill District.
On the Fourth of July — chaos erupted in the area off of Portland Avenue near Second Street.
“There was just a lot of chaos in the streets,” said Mill District resident Sarah McNett. “Running up and down and shooting fireworks not into the sky, but rather at each other.”
Video shows fireworks being thrown out of vehicles, targeting buildings, cars and people on the street.
“There’s a lot of things that could go wrong in this scenario, not a great thing to be doing especially in the cities,” said Mill District resident David Fruend.
Minneapolis police say illegal street racing and other dangerous activity prompted a series of barricades that now sit along Second Street between 5th and 11th Avenues.
MPD told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the goal is to cut down on through traffic — while allowing residents and employees a way in and out the neighborhood.
“For me, it’s a little bit more inconvenient because I’m gonna have to like drive all the way around, which is okay,” McNett said. “But I also, I also wonder if you know, people were like dead set on drag racing through the streets, like, are they just gonna go somewhere else?”
Police say the barriers are “Resource multipliers” — meaning MPD doesn’t have to use squad cars to block the intersections.
Some people who live in the area worry the barricades won’t block crime from the area.
“On Washington, you can drag race there,” Fruend said. “A few stoplights may slow them down, but overall people are going to do what people do.”
MPD says these barriers will be here for the foreseeable future.
Police say the placement could change — depending on resident feedback and if the barriers are effective.