Gangs? Misperceptions? Spending? Get a head start on tonight’s Rochester crime forum

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Tonight MPR News and the Rochester Post-Bulletin hold a forum on the facts and fictions around crime and public safety in the Rochester region. The newspaper has taken a weekend look at the history of street gangs in the Rochester area. Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Baier took a longer view of the perception and the reality of crime in the Rochester region.

This reporting will launch the discussion hosted by MPR News' Kate Smith at the Mayo Civic Center at 7 p.m. But we wanted to get an early start online. So sources in the MPR Public Insight Network were asked about the facts and fictions of crime in Rochester. And many spoke up.

Some questioned how the city uses its prosecutorial resources, and whether it's smartly spending public safety dollars. Among them is Karen Duncan, the chief public defender for the southeast region, who said the level of activity in the courts is on the rise, even as overall crime stays flat:

"Prosecutors are behind the times in routinely favoring excessive charging and punishment in situations that could be handled both more cost effectively and also more effectively in terms of reducing recidivism. Fairly run-of-the-mill cases of wrongful person-on-person physical contact that five years ago would have been legitimately charged as misdemeanors are now being charged as felonies due to on overly broad reading of a recent legislative change creating a new felony domestic abuse crime definition."

Duncan went on to say that "unless a sufficient number of public defenders are added (funded) to justly handle the 90-percent-plus of the criminal cases within the court system here, the criminal courts will break down and the public perception of danger will increase."

Meanwhile a Rochester City Councilman, Michael Wojcik, questioned the city's spending for public safety.

"The 2001 operating budget was $844.05 per citizen (inflation adjusted) our 2011 budget calls for spending $846.50 per citizen. In other words, our budget is flat for the last decade. That said, property taxes are up significantly due to state LGA cuts. Hidden in the overall numbers is the fact that quality-of-life spending items like parks, library, and culture are down 7.5 percent. As such we have less amenities to keep kids out of trouble. At the same time spending on public safety is up nearly 10 percent. Public safety is eating up our budget. Contrary to the belief of some we are spending more and more on public safety at the cost of everything else."

It seems natural to ask whether Rochester is prosecuting crimes smartly and spending its public safety money wisely. We'll raise those questions at the forum tonight. But you can comment on this right now. Just do so below, or head to Insight Now and join the discussion there.

And tonight join us as we liveblog the Rochester forum.

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