Hennepin Sheriff: Homicides jumped 48 percent in 2015

Updated: 5:30 p.m. | Posted: 3:30 p.m.

Last year, the Hennepin County sheriff's office warned that 2015 was shaping up to be a deadlier year than the one before. The prediction appears to have come true, according to a report released by the sheriff's office Friday.

Homicides increased by 48 percent, with 62 in all of 2015. Rapes were also up, rising by 16 percent to 703 reported for the year. There were 13 percent more aggravated assaults. One category, muggings, stayed flat at 2,099 last year.

The overall violent crime rate rose 8 percent from 2014 to 2015. Other statistics provided by the Hennepin County sheriff's office show violent crime incidents steadily increasing since 2011, which had the lowest number in the last nine years.

In a statement, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said national trends show violent crime incidents going up. He said his office will "work with our community partners, such as businesses and residents, to develop strategies to ensure residents are engaged in prevention."

The increase in violent crime is troubling, said Hennepin County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Rebecca Gilbuena, but she added residents can help.

"We always say public safety is everyone's responsibility," Gilbuena said. "If you know any bit of info that you think could be helpful in solving a case, please let the Sheriff's Office know. It may be the missing piece of a puzzle that could put a violent criminal behind bars."

Last year, the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force recovered 168 firearms that were used in violent crimes.

"A lot of times with violent crimes you can tie them to drugs, which are tied to gangs. We have a lot of initiatives going on right now to crack down on that," Gilbuena said.

V. J. Smith, president of MAD DADS, said lack of education and poverty in Minneapolis neighborhoods are contributing to the rise in violent crime.

"When people aren't educated they try to make up for a lack of education by doing crime, by being violent, by doing things in our community that are negative," he said.

Smith said he has seen too many victims of violence in north Minneapolis.

"It hurts me to my core to see my people die," he said. "It hurts me to my core because I'm at those funerals. I'm at most streets where it happens. I'm in the hospital when it happens."

Property crime rate improves

Even as violent crimes were going up, crimes involving property ticked down 6 percent. Burglaries against businesses declined by 25 percent. Motor vehicle theft, however, jumped by 26 percent.

The sheriff's office said all but one of Hennepin's cities had contributed crime data to the study. Its largest city, Minneapolis, was among those that reported data.

Hennepin comprises scores of cities besides Minneapolis, and has the largest population of any Minnesota county.