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From YouTube: Council Minute October 19
Description
Mayor Tim Busse gives a summary of a crime report from Bloomington Police, shares community survey results and presents on the City Council’s unanimous approval of the Racial Equity Business Plan.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
october
19th.
This
week
we
received
a
thorough
overview
of
current
safety
and
crime
issues
in
the
city
from
our
chief
of
police,
jeff
potts.
We
asked
chief
potts
to
prepare
this
report
to
council
after
hearing
concerns
from
residents
like
you
about
the
perception
that
crime
has
been
increasing
in
bloomington
and
a
feeling
that
the
community
may
be
less
safe.
Chief
potts
laid
out
the
year-to-date
statistics
for
crimes
reported
in
bloomington
in
2020.
A
The
summary
of
crimes
puts
them
into
two
categories,
part
one
and
part
two
crimes
part
two
crimes
are
lower
level
offenses
such
as
property
crimes,
status
crimes
and
less
harmful
acts
against
other
people.
Some
examples
of
part
two
crimes
are
possessing:
stolen
property,
disorderly
conduct,
fraud
and
forgery.
A
Part
one
crimes
are
the
more
violent
crimes
such
as
homicide,
criminal,
sexual
conduct
aggravated
assault,
burglary
and
vehicle
thefts.
This
might
surprise
some
people,
but
in
both
categories
the
total
number
of
crimes
is
down
from
this
same
time.
Last
year,
part
2
crimes
are
down
26
percent
with
more
than
700
fewer
crimes.
Part
1
crimes
are
down
16
percent,
more
than
400
fewer
crimes
than
last
year.
A
However,
it's
certainly
concerning
that
some
of
the
more
violent
crimes
are
seeing
an
uptick.
This
year
there
have
been
25,
more
burglaries,
40,
more
vehicle
thefts
and,
sadly,
three
more
homicides.
So
what's
going
on?
Well,
that's
a
hard
question
to
answer.
The
homicides
have
all
been
domestic
in
nature,
meaning
that
the
parties
knew
each
other,
even
the
one
that
occurred
in
a
hotel.
It
was
a
family
involved
incident,
community
resources
and
options
for
domestic
violence.
Victims
have
been
more
limited
due
to
covid
and
we're
doing
everything
we
can
to
prevent
future
domestic
deaths
from
happening.
A
I've
heard
from
a
number
of
residents
who
have
connected
the
perceived
increase
in
crimes
to
the
presence
of
homeless
persons,
sheltered
in
some
of
bloomington
hotels.
Yes,
our
police
department's
calls
for
services
have
increased
substantially
because
of
the
challenges
posed
by
hotels,
operating
as
homeless,
shelters
or
being
used
by
people
living
with
housing
instability.
But
the
chief
was
very
clear
that
not
all
calls
for
service
to
those
hotels
are
for
crimes.
A
Many
people
in
the
homeless
community
have
significant
health
issues,
whether
it's
mental
health,
physical
ailments
or
chemical
dependency
and
our
officers
get
called
to
take
care
of
people
who
are
in
crisis
a
quick
sidebar.
I
want
to
take
a
moment
to
acknowledge
that
our
police
officers
have
done
exceptional
work
throughout
this
pandemic
and,
frankly,
every
day
they
approach
their
work
with
professionalism,
and
they
consistently
show
compassion
when
dealing
with
some
extremely
challenging
situations
and
there's
a
reason
for
that.
A
Our
police
department
has
put
significant
effort
into
officer
training,
especially
training,
for
how
to
approach
individuals
in
mental
health
crisis
and
how
to
bring
safe
resolution
to
often
volatile
situations.
Look.
Here's
the
bottom
line,
whether
the
numbers
say
the
crime
is
up
or
down,
there's
a
feeling
in
the
community
that
some
areas
are
less
safe.
A
What
the
chief
assured
the
city
council
is
that
the
police
department
is
working
with
our
other
departments
to
be
aggressive
and
proactive
in
managing
problem
properties,
they're
working
with
the
property
managers
and
the
social
service
agencies
present
in
those
hotels
to
increase
security
and
to
make
sure
management
practices
are
focused
on
preventing
negative
behaviors
and
here's
another
bottom
line.
Bloomington
neighborhoods
continue
to
be
safe,
and
that's
largely
because
of
things
that
you
do
to
ensure
that
neighborhoods
are
safe.
A
You
know
your
neighbors,
you
look
out
for
each
other
and
that's
what
strong
communities
do
we
are
going
to
continue
to
focus
on
problem
solving,
and
I
have
every
confidence
that
our
police
department
and
other
departments
will
do
what's
necessary
to
keep
this
community
safe.
This
week
was
a
milestone
for
the
city
council
on
one
of
our
strategic
priorities,
equity
and
inclusion.
We
unanimously
adopted
the
city's
new
racial
equity
business
plan.
A
Over
the
last
several
years,
I
do
believe
we've
made
progress
on
the
council's
strategic
priority
of
advancing
equity
and
inclusion,
but
without
question,
there's
so
much
more
work
to
be
done.
While
we
recognize
that
there
is
no
single
thing
that
can
be
done
to
resolve
centuries
of
racial
inequality,
we
are
committed
to
learning
from
past
mistakes
and
being
intentional
about
moving
the
work
forward.
A
Thanks
to
our
racial
equity
coordinator,
faith
jackson,
who
developed
this
plan
in
consultation
with
our
executive
staff
team
and
my
city
council
colleagues,
the
city
of
bloomington,
has
surveyed
residents
annually
since
2012
to
gauge
opinion
on
a
number
of
community
issues
and
city
services.
The
national
community
survey
or
ncs
is
conducted
by
the
national
research
center.
The
ncs
has
a
database
of
communities
across
the
country
that
also
acts
as
a
national
benchmark.
That
lets
us
compare
bloomington
results
with
how
we
measure
up
to
similar
cities
around
america.
A
A
The
survey
was
sent
to
3
300,
randomly
selected
households
in
bloomington,
and
978
people
responded.
The
30
response
rate
is
good
and
to
get
a
bit
nerdy
here,
the
survey
provides
a
statistically
valid
scientific
sample
with
a
95
confidence
interval
and
a
margin
of
error
of
plus
or
minus
4..
The
city
council
will
get
a
full
presentation
of
the
survey
results
on
november
9th,
leading
up
to
that
date,
we'll
be
sharing
a
different
question
or
two
each
day
on
the
city's
social
media.
A
A
One
of
the
most
important
questions
we
ask
is
how
residents
perceive
the
value
of
city
services
based
on
the
taxes
paid
to
support
those
services
when
asked
to
rate
the
value
of
services
for
taxes
paid
to
the
city
of
bloomington,
70
percent
of
residents
said
excellent
or
good.
This
year's
favorable
response
is
a
seven
point
increase
over
2019
and
2018.
A
When
63
percent
of
residents
responded
favorably,
that's
what
we
call
statistically
significant,
in
addition
to
being
a
big
increase
over
2019,
that
70
percent
favorable
rating
for
the
value
of
city
services
is
higher
than
the
national
benchmark,
meaning
that
bloomington
residents
feel
more
positive
about
the
value
of
taxes
paid
than
do
people
in
other
communities
around
the
country
and
there's
good
reason
for
that.
Did
you
know
that
the
city's
share
of
taxes
for
a
median
valued
home
in
bloomington
is
lower
than
most
of
our
peer
communities
in
minnesota?
A
Earlier
I
talked
about
concerns
in
the
community
about
crime.
Public
safety
is
one
of
those
areas
of
focus
in
our
survey,
and
we
saw
the
heightened
concerns
that
people
have
reflected
in
our
survey.
Results
asked
about
the
overall
feeling
of
safety
in
bloomington
81
said
they
felt
very
or
somewhat
safe.
That's
a
six
percent
decline
from
2019
and
that's
the
first
year
we
have
seen
fewer
people
saying
they
feel
safe.
Previously,
86
or
even
87
percent
have
responded
favorably
since
we
started
asking
that
question
back
in
2014..
A
The
positive
thing
in
the
survey
is
that
96
of
residents
report
feeling
safe
in
their
own
neighborhood.
That
number
has
been
very
consistent
every
year
and
I
think
that
reflects
the
strength
of
bloomington's
community,
its
neighborhoods
another
subject
that
is
interesting
and
connects
to
our
racial
equity.
Pro
business
plan
is
how
welcoming
residents
feel
the
city
and
the
community
are
to
people
of
different
backgrounds.
A
75
percent
of
respondents
said
the
city.
Does
an
excellent
or
good
job
at
making.
All
residents
feel
welcome
and
72
percent
rated
the
city
positively
at
valuing
and
respecting
residents
from
diverse
backgrounds.
However,
only
61
percent
positively
rated
the
openness
and
acceptance
of
the
community
toward
people
of
diverse
backgrounds.
I
think
this
reflects
how
concerned
people
are,
after
a
very
difficult
summer
of
protests,
tensions
and
demands
for
racial
justice
both
locally
and
nationally.
A
It's
the
first
time
we've
asked
these
questions
and
we
will
continue
to
ask
those
questions
and
to
focus
on
community
concerns
about
race
and
equity.
Like
I
said,
our
city
communications
team
will
be
rolling
out.
Survey
results
through
our
social
media,
leading
up
to
the
full
presentation
on
november
9th.