FBI crime data controversy — and other top public safety news
Unreported FBI crime data adjustments under scrutiny — A number of conservative outlets reported this week that the FBI had quietly updated its 2022 crime data sometime after releasing the data in September 2023. The update added an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies, and 37,091 aggravated assaults to the 2022 totals. The additional 80,029 violent crimes altered the violent crime rate from the originally announced 3.5% decrease to a 1.6% decrease according to Real Clear Investigations.
The FBI has done itself no favors in failing to explain the changes, including explaining if and how the 2022 changes were incorporated into last month’s release of 2023 crime data and its comparison to the 2022 data.
The entire episode exposes just how convoluted and complicated our nation’s crime data has become and how easily the data can be manipulated for political reasons. Transitions from Part 1 and Part 2 crimes to Group A and Group B crimes, the migration away from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the differences between these data and the data reported in the Justice Department’s annual Crime Victims Survey, all add to the confusion.
Look for an article in the winter edition of our Thinking Minnesota magazine, where I’ll attempt to bring some clarity to the issue of crime data.
Man who had previously been ruled incompetent to stand trial for a brutal murder of Loring Park store clerk, now faces 1st-degree murder charges — The Minneapolis man who brutally murdered a beloved store clerk at the Oak Grove Grocery near Loring Park in Minneapolis last December, has been indicted for 1st Degree Murder. Taylor Schulz, 45, who has a history of mental illness, had been ruled incompetent to stand trial earlier this year, but competency restoration efforts in the court system worked to return Schulz to court to face criminal murder charges. This effort represents a positive outcome for a competency restoration program challenged by a heavy caseload.
Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center staffing shortages impacting ability to receive arrestees — KSTP broke news this week of staffing shortages at the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) which have created safety and security concerns in the facility, and which led to the JDC being unable to accept a juvenile arrestee for booking earlier this month.
According to Hennepin County’s Department of Community Corrections, the JDC is authorized to have 76 correctional officers, and while that many are employed, they only have 47 CO’s who are trained and able to staff shifts.
Earlier this summer the staffing shortages were identified as leading to a takeover of a portion of the facility by juvenile inmates. The incident required the Minneapolis Police and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office to respond to assist in restoring security to the JDC.
The news comes amidst recent reports of youth as young as nine years old carrying out robberies, car jackings, and auto thefts, and the growing concern that our juvenile justice system is failing to apply proper consequences that would serve as a deterrent for such crime.
Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management struggles — KSTP also broke news coming from the embattled Office of Cannabis Management OCM this week. A culture problem within the office has reportedly led all eight members of the medical cannabis certification team to quit in recent months after being brought over from the Minnesota Department of Health to the OCM office.
The news follows suit with a variety of other struggles reported with the OCM, such as an inability to find a permanent director and decreased revenue projections in the early years of our new “legalization” era.