Dear Community Leader:
This letter is my annual report on the Hennepin County Attorneys Office. The mission of the County Attorneys Office is to serve justice and public safety through our commitment to ethical prosecution, crime prevention, and innovative and reasoned client representation. Together, we have enjoyed many successes. Good news is sweetest when shared; challenges are best faced with others.
First, some good news. While one crime is too many if you happen to be the victim, crime overall in Hennepin County and in Minneapolis is down. For example, juvenile criminal cases presented to this office for review are down 15% and bed use in the Juvenile Detention Center is down 30%. Homicides in Minneapolis, as of this writing, stand at 6 – the lowest number in 30 years. There are many causes for these drops, including a great deal of excellent work in the law enforcement community. The Hennepin County Attorneys Office (HCAO) continues to enjoy strong working relationships with the many dedicated professional peace officers working in the suburban police departments, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.
Reducing crime requires a multifaceted approach. We need to continue aggressively prosecuting those who pose a threat to our community, We also need to continually work to strengthen our close working relationships with neighborhoods, communities, and the police who serve them. We need to work on prevention, focusing on the young and the elderly.
Gangs
In my last update, I shared how we pulled together a group of experienced prosecutors to focus exclusively on gang crime. Their smaller caseloads enable them to focus attention on the many difficulties gang prosecutions present. Gang cases often include multiple defendants who present practical and evidentiary issues. Gang cases also involve reluctant, threatened, and frightened witnesses who require special attention and care to ensure they will appear at trial and testify truthfully. Gang cases also commonly involve witnesses and victims who require particular sensitivity to cultural and communication issues. The focus of the gang unit has very clearly paid off. The gang team’s overall conviction rate in 2008 and 2009 is 87%. The gang team currently has 13 charged homicide cases, with 12 set for trial in 2009. We are busy.
Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage foreclosures continue to devastate many neighborhoods. While many foreclosures are the result of difficult economic conditions and bad lending decisions, too many are a result of fraud. We have devoted substantial resources to hold accountable those who committed fraud at the expense of our neighborhoods. Since 2008, we have charged 32 defendants with mortgage fraud related crimes. Of those, 16 have already been convicted. These cases touch all areas of Hennepin County. Charged cases involve 250 properties including approximately $70 million in fraudulent loans. The cases can be difficult. This year, our mortgage fraud prosecutors have already spent 166 days in trial, exceeding the 136 trial days in all of 2008.
Community Prosecution
Since 2007, we have been working to establish deeper relationships with the neighborhoods we serve. We regularly attend many neighborhood meetings to share information and to listen to concerns. One of the benefits of those meetings is that neighborhood voices are now heard in places where they were previously lacking. For example, in 2008, the legislature established a task force to look at issues concerning drug crime sentencing. Thanks to advocacy from the Hennepin County Attorneys Office, four representatives from neighborhoods facing significant drug crime were added to the task force. Neighborhood participation was key in coming up with a comprehensive (and cost saving) proposal that would make our state’s drug laws more effective and more just. It is my hope that the legislature will give the proposal the serious consideration it deserves in 2010.
Challenges
Among the interesting and difficult challenges we face, is reaching out to the Somali Community. The Somali community is composed of the largest group of recent arrivals to Hennepin County. This vibrant and close knit community faces many challenges. Many arrive having fled violence in a country that has gone decades without a working government, much less a government run, impartial, justice system that has transparency, fairness, and presumption of innocence as foundational values. Thus, on top of cultural differences and communication issues, gaining victim and witness cooperation is difficult. The criminal justice community has much work to do in building the kind of trust and understanding that are critical to effective law enforcement and dispute resolution.
In addition, as budget cuts take their toll on schools, social service agencies and the County it has become more difficult to focus resources on the issue of school attendance. Keeping children in school is the key to keeping them out of trouble. The Hennepin County Attorneys Office is aggressively seeking resources to increase our successful efforts to keep kids in school. More on this soon.
Finally, the budget deficits government at all levels must address pose enormous burdens. The budget cuts we and our partners in law enforcement have absorbed are unprecedented, and the immediate budgetary future is grim. We are continually looking for opportunities to do things more efficiently and are reallocating resources to higher priority activities. We are aggressively seeking grant and stimulus funding.
Through all the successes and challenges, I am very grateful for your continued support and suggestions, as well as the honor of leading this fine office. Please write or call with your ideas whenever you can. After all, it is the opportunity to work with all of you that makes the Hennepin County Attorneys Office such a great place to pursue justice.
Sincerely yours,
MICHAEL O. FREEMAN
HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY
