Minneapolis church, neighborhood come together to curb rise in crime

The Wooddale Church and a Loring Park neighborhood group are coming together to help reduce crime in their corner of downtown Minneapolis.

Wooddale Pastor Trent Palmberg said his church neighbors, businesses and police are all working together to help people in the Loring Park neighborhood.

"We are all here to make a difference and to reach out to anyone who needs help," Palmberg said. "At least for us here in Loring Park, the rise in crime has been a little bit of everything from robberies to burglaries, gun crimes and even petty crime."

Palmberg said they are doing what they’ve always done at Wooddale Church, which includes outreach programs of many different varieties. Even the Minnesota Department of Transportation is helping with an environmental program to spruce up parts of the neighborhood.

"Right down at a Spanish immersion daycare where there has been some graffiti and crime there is a greening project happening now," Palmberg said. "MnDOT is helping with that and the idea is to get it greened up and eliminate some of the graffiti and crime in that area.