Gang expert: 'We're going to need help'

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By Matt Russell

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Concerns about whether Rochester has enough police to deal with a growing gang problem surfaced Wednesday night as residents of a northwest Rochester neighborhood discussed ongoing gang activity, including gunfire, in their area.

Around 50 residents of the Cimarron Park neighborhood met at Resurrection Lutheran Church, where Steve Thompson, the Rochester Police Department's gang investigator, said the department needed more resources.

Gang-related crime "is approaching half" of the crime committed in Rochester, most of it revolving around drugs, Thompson said.

Police numbers

Thompson said he's Rochester police's only gang investigator and works with four narcotics investigators on the department.

"To have only four narcotics officers in a town of 100,000, that's not enough," he said. "Eventually we're going to need some help."

Neighborhood resident Becky Helgeson was alarmed by numbers Thompson cited about police force staffing.

In 1969, when Thompson's father was a police officer in Rochester, there were 96 officers in town, Thompson said. There are now 126 officers in Rochester as the population has doubled, he added.

The 13 to 14 officers on patrol in Rochester on Wednesday night was "a good night" in terms of the number of officers on the street, Thompson said. Often this summer, he added, there have been two officers patrolling the north side of town.

Neighborhood concerns

Cimarron neighbors make a lot of phone calls about suspicious activity, but police often don't get to the neighborhood quickly enough to do much, Helgeson said.

"They cannot get here in time because there's not enough of them," she said.

Cimarron resident Todd Hager, who has led night patrols in the neighborhood since there were three reports of gunfire there in June, agreed with Helgeson that more police are needed.

At the same time, however, he said neighbors need to do a better job of being vigilant and reporting what they see to police.

"We need more cops on the street, but more importantly we need more eyes on the street," he said.

Thompson urged neighbors to report gang-related graffiti in the neighborhood and to call police whenever they see or hear anything suspicious.

Responding to a major neighborhood concern, Thompson said he had yet to see a case of gangs retaliating against citizens for reporting gang activity. More often, he said, gang members retaliate against fellow members who they think have given authorities information.

Rochester Police admit that they can't get there fast enough... What's a responsible homeowner/mother/father to do?

It doesn’t matter how many cops there are unless you have one per person they are still minutes away when seconds count. Arm yourself and learn to defend yourself.

Hmmm, anybody need a gang strike force, cheap? I hear there's one out of work around here...

You'll find them all watching TV