According to a recent poll conducted by Meeting Street Insights for the Center of the American Experiment, Minnesotans are dissatisfied with how crime is handled in the state.
A majority of citizens believe Minnesota is moving in the wrong direction, as opposed to two years ago, when the majority thought the state was moving in the right direction.
Considering opinions on Gov. Tim Walz’s approach to handling crime, the results have virtually flipped since last year in terms of approval. In June of 2020, 59% approved and 35% disapproved of the governor’s approach to crime, but in June of 2021, 55% disapproved and only 39% approved.
Additionally, the extreme rise of violent crime in Minnesota, and especially the Twin Cities, concerns a vast majority of Minnesotans, according to the poll — 81% overall. Four in five Minnesotans say crime has gotten worse in Minnesota over the past year.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they visited Minneapolis less than normal in the past year, compared to 4% who said they visited the city more frequently than in the past.
Despite this, a majority of Minnesotans do trust law enforcement to keep the city safe — far more than they trust elected leaders in the state to do the same.
Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, responded to the poll from the American Experiment by expressing the need for more policing in regard to the rise in crime.
Gazelka stated, “85% of the public trusts the police. We want the police. Why are these people out there saying that they are not doing their job right, that they need to be defunded? Those are the things that are driving the police out of what they do and why more people don’t want to sign up.”
Anna Miller
Anna Miller is a marketing intern at Alpha News and is majoring in entrepreneurship.
