Minn. police leaders discuss how they plan to lower the increasing rate of carjackings statewide

MINNESOTA (KVRR) – According to the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, carjackings statewide were up 15 percent from 2019 to 2020.

During a roundtable with Senator Amy Klobuchar, state officials said a majority of the people committing them are juveniles with criminal histories.

Police chiefs say they want to make sure they don’t put broken people back on the streets. They want to help teens who may have been struggling with mental health or money issues during the pandemic get the help they need.

Moorhead Police Chief Shannon Monroe says there was one carjacking in recent memory in the city in January. He says a bigger problem in his department is staffing issues.

“If you heard the captain get on and say, you know, ‘Well, we just finished 15 hours, but they’re asking us to stay on and fly you to Hawaii.’ I don’t think anyone would feel too comfortable with that and we ask police officers to sometimes have to drive fast and carry guns and make split second decisions, but we’re working the heck out of them,” Monroe said

The Chiefs of Police Association says the vacancy rate in police departments statewide is 20 percent.