Burnsville’s latest internal crime statistics report (as of March 2010) suggests crime in March has gone down in Burnsville 2009 and 2010. As I’m always critical of the poor funding the mayor and several members of the Burnsville City Council passed for the Burnsville Police Department I figure I better point out when they are doing their jobs even when it’s made extremely difficult for them. But while a good bit of serious crime is shown as falling, some others are rearing their ugly heads again.
Almost exactly two years ago Burnsville was touting its increased patrolling of local hotels in an attempt to curb prostitution in local hotels. Well after a year it appears that Burnsville needs to get back out there and do it all over again:
With a 900% rise (10 incidents in 2010 vs 1 in 2009) it appears that the focus has shifted from busting street walkers in the Mayor’s backyard to busting hookers and their accomplices in local hotels.
With their efforts obviously working back in 2008 and early 2009 you have to wonder how much the city-wide budget cuts due to the City Council’s need to fund the BPAC (with some in Burnsville’s Finance Department expecting an 8% rise in taxes to cover it–something which the mayor will have to explain) have kneecapped the ability of the police department to effectively do their jobs. Was it just luck that they only had one particular type of crime jump this high or has the Burnsville PD been able to effectively adjust and operate well under their new financial circumstances?
Are you pleased with this report? Does it really show that crime is on its way down in Burnsville or do you believe it’s nothing more than playing with the numbers at the Mayor’s request? Are you concerned with prostitution as much as say the 28% rise in home burglary? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say!
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April 23rd, 2010 at 10:08 am
The increase in prostitution arrests could be reflecting an increase in efforts to stop prostitution, not necessarily an increase in the activity itself. Rarely does anyone call in about a prostitution incident, unlike burglary where it almost always is called in.
What two consenting adults decide to do is none of my business, even if it involves a payment. The only time it would bother me is if the hookers were working the streets by my house, parks or schools. Using craigslist and hotels for the hookup is not a problem.
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:02 am
How is this possible?!? We don’t have train cars being stored here. There shouldn’t be any crime here at all.
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hookers need money too, geez.
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:00 pm
Sort of an interesting incident report. Were these two in Burnsville only because a police officer called and asked her to meet him at a hotel in Burnsville, or did she have a hotel here where the police met her? It sounds to me like they were at MOA and got a call to meet up with what turned out to be a cop in Burnsville.
While I am all for getting crime off the streets, I am not sure how I feel about our police calling up a couple criminals and inviting them to town.
April 24th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Lenny’s surely correct. A sting’ll get you the outsized numbers. How else you going to bust this crime?
I don’t blame the “profession” for going to that interchange/corner — half the businesses are vacant (fewer prying eyes?), the general locale is well-known but access somewhat discreet, and the lodging is of the mid to shitty variety.
Up 900 percent, down 1,000 percent, whatever — I suspect there will be “commerce” except at those times when management and/or cops get really pissed about it.
April 24th, 2010 at 4:38 am
An interesting data point would be how much of this increase was due to Craigslist.
April 24th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
It’s probably easier to bust people for prostitution than many other crimes, since prostitutes need clients and thus can’t stay too hidden, so the police can use decoys and whatnot.
I’m with Lenny in that I don’t care about this if everyone involved is a consenting adult.
April 24th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Problem is that they may appear to be consenting but hookers are usually under the control of their pimp and thus are not truly consenting.
April 25th, 2010 at 8:47 am
And I wouldn’t consider that consenting, either. All the more reason why I think it should be legalized and regulated, so that factor can be heavily reduced, even if it wouldn’t be totally eliminated.
April 26th, 2010 at 8:17 am
You uh.. haven’t come across any john lists have you? Should I be worried?
April 27th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Um, no. Anyone who is needs to seriously think a little deeper about the nature of these two “crimes”.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:32 am
[...] pawn fees in the city when the city council ignored the recommendation, you have to wonder if the 900% rise in prostitution or the 28% rise in residential burglaries could have been brought down [...]
April 27th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
More prostitution enforcement in Burnsville, this time with drug charges:
http://services.co.dakota.mn.us/ComplaintSearch/complaint.aspx?ID=9682
http://services.co.dakota.mn.us/ComplaintSearch/complaint.aspx?ID=9683
January 18th, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] should have been more carefully watched knowing the situation? Are you concerned that prostitution is still an on-going issue in Burnsville? Whatever you have to say about the situation or how it was handled by the Burnsville PD go ahead [...]
October 25th, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] with Burnsville’s track record on hotel prostitution, drug use, and now accidental gun violence, do you wonder if Kautz’s dream hotel in the Heart [...]