Episode five of Minneapolis 911 with L.A. Nik & Hessley Rey: ShotSpotter

Click HERE to listen to this week's podcast.

This week on the podcast we talk about a system used nationwide, including right here in Minneapolis, for locating gunfire. The system in Minneapolis is called ShotSpotter and the purpose of it is to detect the location of gun fire so that dispatchers can send out first responders to quickly deal with gun shot victims, secure witnesses and generally deter gun violence.

Here is a Minneapolis ShotSpotter map from May 3rd to May 9th, 2016.


As you can see, blue stars represent confirmed shootings of which their were twelve during this seven day time frame. If you listen to the news, it should come as no surprise that most shootings occur in North Minneapolis followed by downtown Minneapolis.

Minneapolis' ShotSpotter system was featured on AOL News. Check out THIS VIDEO to see how the system works in our community.

Fifteen to twenty sensors are placed within a square mile in hidden locations. Shockwaves caused by gun fire activate the sensors and then triangulation between the sensors is used to determine the location of the gun fire and alert the police. Check out the science of it in THIS National Geographic video.

Here's what gets me. Nearly every time I have brought up ShotSpotter in conversation in Minneapolis, the person listening looks at me with a complete look of disbelief as though I am lying about its existence. That look is almost always followed up with something like, "Well, it could just be car backfire or firecrackers that the system is picking up." It's a valid point. And despite the fact that the systems are programmed to know the difference between a firecracker and a gun shot, people not wanting to believe that we have gun fire right here in Minneapolis is a more important point to me.

This week we had 45 bullet casings found at Penn Avenue north and Olson Memorial Highway after a man was shot and killed at 3:30pm in the afternoon. According to a Star Tribune STORY detectives are looking into the possibility that the shooting was a retaliation to last week's shooting at Newton and Sixteenth Avenue north that killed one and injured seven; An alleged gang-related shooting.

I record my podcast every week in an attempt to make people aware that we have problems here in Minneapolis. My goal is to start a conversation so that we can find solutions.  Denial solves nothing. Driving off to south Minneapolis and the western suburbs after a day of work downtown doesn't mean you will remain untouched by the violence. 

Downtown is the heartbeat of the Minneapolis metro. That shooting on Penn Avenue happened at 3:30pm in the afternoon. If this city gets any worse, companies will pull out of downtown. If Minneapolis fails, Wayzata fails and so on.  It's called the Broken Window Effect. 


*Minneapolis 911 is a weekly podcast on the Tom Barnard Network. It can also be found at www.MayorOfMinneapolis.com

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L.A. NIK "THE MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS AFTER DARK" VISITS FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

I leave for Japan today. My overall mission is to visit a few different cities to talk about my book and explore the cultural diversity in Japan. However, I'll be visiting Fukushima this Monday for a first hand look at what is going on there. 

There's a lot of speculation about the wide-spread effects of this disaster and there are a lot of scare tactics out there to hype up the news. I plan to take a first hand look at what is actually happening in Fukushima. 

Here's the potential nuclear fallout according to a global research site.

Fukushima Nuclear Fall out

Here's the map of the area of Japan that this event affects. 

Fukushima. Affected areas of Japan.

What is the actual potential for disaster in the rest of the world?  It seems only speculation at this point and many stories have gone viral of course. Click HERE to see some discussion.

You can also read about some of the impact of this disaster at Deep Sea News; they, along with many others try to debunk much of the discussion you hear around the internet.

Fukushima Aftermath

Minneapolis also has a "sister city" in Japan; it's name is Ibaraki. The Mayor and government of Ibaraki has had a long standing relationship with Minneapolis since the 1980's - in fact many visual pieces around the downtown area of Minneapolis have been gifted to the city of Minneapolis from Ibaraki. 

Minneapolis and Ibaraki share many culturally artistic traits in music, food / drink, theatre, and art galleries. I hope to meet some of the esteemed leaders in this community and the tourism board in Tokyo as well. 

I was featured on Fox 9 Morning Buzz discussing this trip and I've taken music, DVD's and other items of interest from local artists in Minneapolis to share with those I meet in Japan. I'll be bringing back culturally artisitic items to share with the community here in downtown Minneapolis.

You can see my Fox 9 clip here. It was taped from an iPhone as Fox 9 does not put much of the Buzz live on the internet. 

Stay tuned and like my Facebook Fan page for updates along my journey and for the real deal at Fukushima. I'm leaving today, January 10th, 2014 and I'll be home in 2 weeks.

L.A. Nik Fan Page

Follow @RockerLANik

WHEN THE IPC NORDIC SKIING WORLD CUP COMES TO MINNEAPOLIS....

2012 Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup

I had a great privilege these past two days in Minneapolis.  The International Paralympics Committee brought the Nordic Skiing World Cup to Minneapolis for its final two days of competition.  Theodore Wirth Park was the host site of this truly inspiring athletic event.  It was pretty interesting given we've really have zero snow.  I mean zero !  Last year at this time, we had been through 4 snow emergencies and public transit had been shut down completely at least once.  This year is a different story..   Living in warmer climates most all of my life, I've never actually seen man made snow.  I thought it was pretty cool !

There were some pretty big sponsors for this event.  Whole Foods seemed to have provided the warming tent and bathroom areas just below the ski trails.  City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation was serving food in the tent which I assume was provided by Whole Foods.  Gillette was a big sponsor as well as the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board and Minnesota Academy of Opthamology.  I was disappointed in the turn out for this event, but.. it was in the middle of the week and in the middle of the work day for many people.

I was invited by Meet Minneapolis to deliver the closing comments at the dinner and banquet ceremony at Hiltion Garden Inn Thursday evening.  After some technical difficulty with their equipment I simply gave the room full of 150 plus people some great advice about visiting Minneapolis.  Many of them are here through the weekend visiting.  My friends over at BANK Westin agreed to take care of whom ever we brought into their space - Thank you to Neil, Andy, and the rest of the crew that got tromped by 70 or so people around 9pm at BANK.  You did a great job and everyone enjoyed a bit of downtown Minneapolis: USA.

We got plenty of photos taken.  I'll let those do the rest of the talking..

Everybody has a story.  Challenges face every single person - I've been through my fair share.  I met a guy tonight that was a professional soccer player.  He lost his legs due to a cancer.  Yet he presses on competing in sports by using his arms.

We take to the streets !  Nearly 70 in all; we headed down 11th street from the Hilton to Nicollet Mall where I pointed out many of the local establishments, Target Headquarters and other Minneapolis landmarks.  It was really was a nice night out - perfect for a tour.

Finally at BANK.  $5 appetizers and $4 and $6 drinks. We eventually moved to the local and some people found their way to Brits.

Just another great experience in Minneapolis, MN.  Life is what you make it.  Look where the arrow is pointing, not where its been.

- L.A. NIk

Ambassador Downtown Minneapolis

TWIN CITIES LIVE FEATURING L.A. NIK

TWIN CITIES LIVE | KSTP 5

December 21st, 2011.  3PM

In case you haven't seen it yet on television, watch the coverage of my downtown photo contest.

What a great job they did covering the "Take a Pic of L.A. Nik" Downtown Photo contest.  As stated in my previous post, a better recipient could not have won this fun bit of downtown Minneapolis philanthropy.

Officer Pat McCarver (Minneapolis Police Department) received the $1,000 CASH at the Local on Nicollet Mall. He stated that half of the  money will be earmarked to help a needy family that he and his wife had already chosen to help for the Christmas season.  The other half.. well his own family of course !

If you know Pat, congratulate him on a really well composed photo, but also on his contribution to and his love for Minneapolis.  It was a pleasure to help him with his goals this holiday season.

Watch the video right here !

                                                                                                                                                 

L.A. Nik being interviewed by Emily Engberg: Twin Cities Live


Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays.  
L.A. Nik