Brooklyn Park police, community hold block party-style meeting on crime
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. -- Brooklyn Park communities are standing together in the face of a drastic rise in crime.
Over the weekend, there was a shooting near North 63rd and Boone avenues. Police say two people were caught in the crossfire while they were standing in the parking lot of a barber shop. Both of them survived, but police say the city is experiencing a level of violence its never seen before.
BPPD shut down the streets Tuesday in a neighborhood with a lot of violent crime to open up a community conversation. Organizers say they want to build trust and be transparent so people can work together to keep neighborhoods safe.
"The amount of gun violence is just unacceptable. There's no longer a shooting. It's a shootout," said Deputy Chief Mark Bruley. "The police can't do it alone. We need the community. We need the communities trust, and we need them supporting us to do this."
Many community members there were satisfied with answers to their questions from police and noted some recent successes.
One business owner in the area told WCCO that patrols from Minnesota Acts Now have really curbed crime outside of the store.
