Brooklyn Park Works To Address Crime At Apartment Complex
The city of Brooklyn Park says crime has increased at one of its large apartment complexes.
Autumn Ridge Apartments sits at the corner of 63rd and Boone avenues in Brooklyn Park. Police say crime at the complex is the highest it’s been in years.
“Over the last three years, crime is up about 50 percent down there, and so that is a fairly drastic number,” said Brooklyn Park Police Inspector Elliot Faust. “I do know that there was an increase in auto theft there. There’s an increase in domestic violence there.”
The property managers don’t have an explanation for bump in criminal activity.
“We don’t have any knowledge or understanding as to why, or speculation as to why there would be an increase,” said Dan Collison, senior director of public affairs for the property manager Sherman Associates. “But anytime there’s an increase of crime anywhere it’s a big concern of ours.”
Brooklyn Park city staff have started meeting with the property managers to look for solutions.
“At this point, the discussions with Autumn Ridge management is really really a two-way discussion,” said Kim Berggren, Brooklyn Park director of community development. “What can the city do, what can the managers do?”
Autumn Ridge Apartments sits at the corner of 63rd and Boone avenues in Brooklyn Park. Police say crime at the complex is the highest it’s been in years.
Training and Inspections at Autumn Ridge
To start, police have increased patrols and offered training to apartment staffers.
“We deployed resources out there to help train staff at Autumn Ridge in mental health and domestic violence,” Faust said. “What we’re really trying to do now is connect those experts and those professionals up with the staff that work in these communities … The people that might be in tune to seeing that a problem is going on and could hook in those resources without the police having to ever be involved.”
City inspectors are also starting a door knocking campaign.
“What’s great about the door knocking strategy is it integrates property maintenance and the need to make sure repairs are getting done in our apartment community with reaching out to residents,” Berggren said.
Brooklyn Park police have increased patrols at Autumn Ridge and offered training to apartment staffers.
Meanwhile, property managers at Autumn Ridge didn’t commit to any new physical security projects in the near future. But, they have committed to hosting community meetings with tenants, city officials and police.
“Talk to us,” Collison said. “We have these sessions that we do as a group, or if you want to do one-on-one, talk to our property manager, let’s immediately engage.”
Police didn’t speculate how long it may take to bring crime numbers back down. However, Faust said they’d keep working at Autumn Ridge until the situation improves.
“It didn’t get this way overnight,” Faust said. “We have to find the right medicine for the problem … we’re exploring that deeper to really get a full understanding of what the problem is. We’ll apply the right medicine to it.”
