Senator Klobuchar Addresses Carjacking Crisis

When a local musician friend who transplanted back to Minneapolis, got injured during a carjacking attempt last year, that hit pretty close to home. For some reason this carjacking epidemic struck me as especially disconcerting. In Mary Bue's case, it was the audacity that struck me. The perpetrators were probably no more than 14 years old. 

The frequency of references to carjacking caused me to make a Google Alert on this topic a couple months ago. It is a remarkably widespread problem, occurring in cities from coast to coast. Two themes that especially jumped out to me were (1) how many of these were being carried out by teens, and (2) how many involved weapons and physical harm to the victim. 

Having one's catalytic converter stolen from your car while you are sleeping is one thing. Being struck in the jaw by the butt of a pistol to grab your keys and steal your car is quite another.

On Monday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar conducted a roundtable with six police chiefs to address the spike in carjackings. In Minneapolis, the number of carjacking incidents increased by 537% between 2019 and 2020. 

The police chiefs brought up some other concerns, including the need for more resources to deal with the mental health issues here.  

Kudos to the senator for speaking openly about the carjacking epidemic and Minnesota crime, which are visible evidence that our social fabric is frayed and coming unravelled.

* * *

Related Link

Sen. Klobuchar hosts roundtable to discuss spike in carjacking

Our National Carjacking Epidemic and a Few Prevention Tips