Not only residents of Minneapolis are becoming increasingly upset by the high crime rates. At a St. Paul town hall meeting, Lowertown residents said that crime is out of control.

At the meeting, people said that the city had become “a garbage can” and unsafe. One man stated that he was considering getting a concealed carry license for his own safety. KSTP reports that the majority of those who spoke said that constant open drug use and public lewdness as well as burglaries and sex assaults had created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety.

Residents say that the fact that light rail platforms and trains have become crime hotspots is a factor.

One person stated, “What you can see from the outside, especially late at night, is a serious problem. We had fatal shootings in the light rail station next door,”

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One person said that more transit police were needed to patrol these areas, because “you don’t get anyone on the light rail except when there is a football, baseball or concert.”

Jesse Mollner, the Central District Commander of the St. Paul Police Department, said that the department has a problem in not having enough numbers to answer 9-1-1 calls quickly.

Mollner explained that “a lot of calls have been pending an excessive amount of time and it is not because officers are busy.” It’s because the officers are being called one after another and answering calls.

St. Paul Deputy Chief Jack Serier, who is also the Minneapolis Police Chief, told MinnPost last October that both departments are understaffed due to a low number of recruits and a high number of people leaving their department.

“We have seen a decrease in the number who are eligible to apply for jobs at the department, and at the exact same time we’ve had an increase in people quitting their job or retiring,” explained Serier. “We have two curves going in opposite directions, which is why we can’t fill our need for new employees.”