Off Campus Living

The University’s Department of Public Safety and the U of M Safe Campus website are your primary resources for all things related to on-campus safety as a University of Minnesota student.

OCL aims to provide helpful resources to enable students to have a successful experience living and renting off-campus and we recognize that many students living off-campus are living in Minneapolis neighborhoods, under the patrol of the Minneapolis Police Department, and may need assistance understanding off-campus safety resources.

Below we reiterate some basic safety information and prevention tips, while also offering guidance on how to sign up for Minneapolis PD crime alerts and updates, based on what neighborhoods you are interested in, as well as how to find and review Minneapolis PD crime data. We want to help you to be a good advocate for yourself and your personal safety, as well as respectful to our Public Safety partners who do so much for our community.

How to Find Minneapolis Crime Data

The Minneapolis Police Crime Maps can be a good resource for you in seeing what crime has been occurring and informing your choices about where you want to rent and what to be aware of for where you do rent. Some things to help you use the maps to find the data you are looking for:

Read through the definitions of all the acronyms they use on the crime map to understand what you are seeing.

How to use the map

• You can filter data by location and date range. To use filters, hover over the black-and-white icons.
• You can move the map around with your mouse. To see the blocks around a particular address, input the address in the search bar.
• Click the star icon in the upper right section to open the Police Incidents and Additional Layers menu. Use the drop down arrow by the police incidents and additional layers filter (7 day, 14 day, etc.) to see the icons/names for the different types of crime that happened within that selected time window.
• To see details of an incident, click on a colored icon.
• A single incident might be represented by multiple icons.
• For best results, view the map in full screen.

To sign up for Minneapolis crime alerts for your neighborhood, follow the instructions on the Minneapolis Precinct Finder page.

Previously, we used to share summaries of Minneapolis Police crime data in our GopherWatch Safety Report. We are not able to provide that service at this time. We encourage you to search the crime map directly yourself to help utilize this great resource provided by the City of Minneapolis.

How to Find St. Paul Crime Data

The St. Paul Crime Statistics page can be a good resource for you in seeing what crime has been occurring and informing your choices about where you want to rent and what to be aware of for where you do rent.

• Be sure to read through their crime definitions to understand what you will see on the incident data table.
• You can access the crime incidents data and filter crimes by date, location, type of crime, etc. You can open it in a map view but the data table is the default view.
• Read through their handy instructions for using the data site.

To sign up for St. Paul crime alerts, please follow the instructions about their community update process.

When traveling or vacationing away from home:

• Tell a trusted neighbor how long you’ll be gone and where you can be reached. Ask them to check your house every day and call 911 if they observe anyone/anything suspicious while you are away.
• Leave lights and radios or televisions on timers or ask your neighbor to switch them on and off periodically.
• Ask a neighbor to park their car in your driveway to make it appear someone is home.
• Arrange to have your grass cut or sidewalks shoveled while away
• Have your US postal mail held at the post office.
• Ask a neighbor to pick up any newspapers or items left on your door steps.

Auto-theft prevention:

• Always lock your car. This includes if you are only leaving for a few minutes or in your garage.
• Park in well lit areas where possible.
• Don’t leave your car running even for a few minutes or in the cold unattended.
• Set your car alarm always.
• Never leave your keys in your car.
• Don’t leave valuables in your car ( not even loose change).
• Use a wheel lock.
• Watch for suspicious activity.
• Install a vehicle tracking system.

Bike-theft prevention:

• Always bring your bike inside at night. It may be a hassle to lug it up a flight of stairs, but many bikes are stolen at night because there are fewer eyes and ears around to deter thieves.
• Use a high quality security lock ( it should have gold solid secure rating). High quality U locks are best.
• Park your bike in well lit areas.
• Try not to park in the same place each day
• Be wary of cable locks, which are easily chopped with wire cutters. They might be enough to deter passing thieves and opportunists, but they are ineffective against seasoned thieves.
• Two or three locks (even cables) are better than one. The more difficult you can make it look to steal your bike, the less a thief will want to hassle with it.
• Never lock your bike to a tree. Not only can it damage the tree, but any tree that’s small enough to fit a U-lock is small enough for thieves to cut through quickly.
• Don’t forget to lock your wheels and your saddle. Quick releases and hex bolts make it easy for thieves to snatch these components.
• Lock up your bikes even inside your garage, and be sure they are locked to some fixed point like a pipe or rafter.
• Keep a file on all of your bikes that includes receipts, serial numbers, and photos. And register each bike in a nationwide database like the National Bike Registry or here (you can register all personal property this way!) so it can be returned to you if it’s ever stolen and recovered.
• Consider investing in a GPS tracking device.

Resources

University Resources

• UMPD Resources: Provides resources on Active shooter situations, Alcohol Abuse and some basic campus safety tips
• Aurora Center Handouts: Provides resources on sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking for educational purposes.
• Safe-U emergency notifications: Provides information on the Safe-U's emergency notification service that contacts all university students, employees and faculty
• Safe Campus website brings together different departments safety info in one convenient place for U students
• University Emergency Plans: Provides the university's current emergency plans
• Dinkytown Safety Guides—identified by Safety Guide shirts and baseball caps—provide a welcoming presence, enhance community connections, and provide extra eyes and ears to help keep our community safe. They are available to call 911, provide walking escort services, help visitors find their way, and connect with business and property owners in the Dinkytown commercial area. The Guides are funded by the Public Safety department.

Minneapolis Police Department(MPD) Resources

• MPD website
• Minneapolis crime alerts: Go here to sign up for crime alerts for your neighborhood
• Minneapolis Crime Statistics: For further crime statistics go here and see the interactive crime map, crime dashboard and other items
• MPD Block Clubs: Information to get involved with the MPD block club program
• MPD report a crime

St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) Resources

• SPPD website
• St. Paul Crime Statistics
• St. Paul crime prevention tips and sign up for crime prevention newsletter
• File a police report online