Violent crime down in Minneapolis
The mayor and police chief of Minneapolis are reporting that the city's violent crime rate has dropped for the second year in a row.
Mayor R.T. Rybak and Chief Tim Dolan said violent crime is down 13 percent citywide so far in 2008, compared to 2007.
Homicides are down by 22 percent and robberies are down by 18 percent.
City officials say community outreach and efforts to prevent youth violence are partly responsible for bringing the numbers down.
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Dolan said the city is also seeing a two-year decline in violent crimes committed by young people.
"Juveniles, two years ago, were responsible for over 55 percent of violent crime in Minneapolis," Dolan said. "It is now down to 20 percent. A 46 percent reduction in juvenile violence overall in the city, so a lot of things are going in the right direction."
The city's second precinct, which covers Northeast Minneapolis, saw the largest decreasein crime.
Rybak says it will be a challenge for the city to maintain positive trends as the economy worsens and government funds are harder to come by.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
