Crime, Law and Justice

Transit systems are targeting fare evaders to win back riders leery about crime
Transit systems are building stronger, better security gates to avoid fare skippers. It’s part of an effort to win back customers concerned about safety. But does cracking down on ticketless riders really help eliminate violent crime? Police in Washington, D.C.’s subway system the Metro have issued some 10,000 citations this year for fare evaders. 
Minneapolis Police Department applications continue to signal rebound
The department’s numbers took a significant dive after the police killing of George Floyd and the unrest that followed. But applications are up 45 percent this year compared to all of 2023. The department has received 1,014 applications so far this year — up from 697 last year. 
Jury convicts Derrick Thompson on gun, drug charges in 2023 crash that killed 5
A federal jury on Friday returned guilty verdicts against a Brooklyn Park man in connection with a crash last year that killed five young women on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Thompson’s conviction in this trial wasn’t for the crash itself, but the cocaine, 2,000 fentanyl pills, and gun that police found in the SUV.
Fearing obstruction, feds seek pause in Feeding Our Future civil suit ahead of criminal trial
A Ramsey County judge on Thursday agreed to put a key part of a Feeding Our Future civil case on hold after the federal prosecutor leading a related criminal case argued that the suit could interfere with an upcoming criminal trial.