I actually got incensed enough to write to my city councilmember. You should write yours if you live in Minneapolis.
Mr. Remington
Regarding the proposal to make it illegal to walk in an alley that is not your own: I think this is a stupid idea that will not solve any problems.
Quoting from the Star Tribune article:
“I see so much crime occurring in the alleys. It’s a quick getaway,” said Minneapolis police officer Mike Killebrew.“If you don’t live there on that block there’s no reason to be in the alley,” said Killebrew, who proposed the ordinance to the city attorney.
If Mr. Killebrew sees a crime occuring in an alley, the response should be to arrest the criminal, not to suggest another unenforcable law.
Creating a law making it illegal to be in an alley will not stop the criminals and will create another excuse for the police to hassle people by asking them for ID to determine if they have a right to be there. It also strikes me as a further erosion of our freedoms and civil liberties and another step closer to a police state.
It sounds to me like they need to enforce the laws that are already on the books.
People talk about criminals ‘escaping into the alleys’. What does that mean? Alleys are not something you just walk into and dissapear. If a criminal walks or drives into an alley, why can’t the police follow them? How is that different than the criminal driving down a street and turning a corner?
Just creating this law will not change anything without increased patrols to enforce it. I think you might find that just increasing the patrols without creating a new law will reduce the crime rate.
I urge you to reconsider and not create this law.
Respectfully,
Timothy Foreman
Find your city councilmember here if you don’t know who it is.
