Minneapolis police: ‘Significant’ drop in shooting victims, more guns confiscated

The Minneapolis Police Department said it’s seeing a “significant” drop in shooting victims in the city, coming at a time the rest of the United States is also seeing a drop in violent crime in major metropolitan areas.

MPD says the month of May marked the lowest number of gunshot victims (27) since 2019. In May 2022 there had been 50 gunshot victims, and in May 2021 there were 93.

MPD added it confiscated 1,100 illegal guns in 2022 and as of Monday has taken in 461 guns this year. Last year’s total set a department record, even with MPD continuing to experience issues filling staff positions.

Homicides are also down, with 24 confirmed in the city so far this year, compared to 37 by the same date in 2022.

On May 30, the city announced it’s still looking to fill around 200 officer roles within the department and about 20 911 operator positions, which comes after a flood of officers left the department – many of them claiming disability payments for PTSD – following the police murder of George Floyd and the subsequent civil unrest in May 2020.