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The close of the 2011 season brought a special gift to PAL. The Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District made a cash donation to help support equipment purchases for PAL. PAL would not be successful without the valuable partnerships we have been able to forge with public and private organizations. Many thanks to the DID for your continued support of PAL!
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Minneapolis PAL youth who might be interested in a Summer job should check out the STEP program:
STEP-UP Achieve Summer Jobs for Youth – February 3 application deadline. Many teenagers are having a hard time finding work during this difficult economy, but thanks to the STEP-UP program, increasing numbers of Minneapolis young people are finding great summer jobs. Applications for the City of Minneapolis STEP-UP Summer Jobs Program are now available. The STEP-UP summer jobs program is seeking motivated and reliable candidates with a positive attitude. STEP-UP is open to Minneapolis residents ages 14-21 that meet income guidelines and are not yet enrolled in college. STEP-UP recruits, trains and places youth in paid, professional summer jobs. Last summer nearly 2,000 students worked in jobs through STEP-UP. You can help by making sure this message reaches parents and community members in your neighborhood who can encourage young people to apply.
Interested applicants can learn more here. |
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Minneapolis Police Officers Abdiwahab Ali, Mohamed Abdullahi, and Jeanine Brudenell currently serve as board members with the Minneapolis Police Activities League.
In the evening of May 4th 2010 Minneapolis Police Officers Abdiwahab Ali and Mohamed Abdullahi responded to an assault on an 82 year-old Somali man in the street in the Cedar Riverside area of the City. The suspect, a white male in his 60’s, struck the victim several times with his fists knocking him down in the street as the suspect yelled anti-Muslim and anti-Somali statements during his unprovoked attack. The two MPD officers were able to preliminarily identify the suspect but were unable to arrest him.
On July 26th 2010 these same two officers were again the Cedar Riverside area when they saw the suspect from the May 4th case, George Loren Thompson (Date of birth 4-10-1947), chasing a 24 year-old Somali man in the street and threatening to kill him. Officers Ali and Abdullahi took Thompson into custody and found him to be intoxicated and in possession of two handguns. The officers learned that Thompson had approached the victim, asked him if he was Somali and, upon learning he was, chased the victim while threatening to kill him for being Somali. The defendant was later charged in Hennepin County District Court with felony level Terroristic Threats in connection with this incident.
The United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General for Investigations, learned of Thompson’s May 2010 conduct as a result of his July 2010 arrest and began an investigation. This ceremony will recognize Minneapolis Police Officers Abdiwahab Ali, Mohamed Abdullahi and Jeanine Brudenell along with First Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist Ahmed Hassan for their assistance in the successful investigation and prosecution of Mr. Thompson for violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Recently Mr. Thompson was sentenced to six months Federal incarceration and three years Federal supervised release for the May 2010 attack on the elderly Somali male.
In their letters of appreciation it is noted that the MPD personnel were the key to the Federal case as they used their language skills, community connections and cultural insights to further the Federal investigation. With the MPD personnel’s assistance the victim was again located and interviewed, additional witnesses located and convinced to provide statements and the Somali community assured that law enforcement would follow through on anti-Somali violence.
The PIO contact for this release was Sergeant William Palmer.
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On Thursday December 8th the Minneapolis Police Activities League partnered with Target stores to host the annual Shop With A Cop event at the East Lake Street Target store. Police officers and community mentors were partnered with inner city youth who were in search of holiday gifts for their families. More than 30 youth were able to participate in the event thanks to a grant that was provided by Target.
Shop With A Cop offers an opportunity for police officers and community mentors to provide some holiday cheer to youth. This year the event was attended by the Police Commander of the Third precinct, Inspector Lucy Gerold. We were also joined by the Chief of Police from the University of Minnesota, Chief Greg Hestness. Chief Hestness has been a PAL board member for more than ten years. Chief Hestness also brought along two of his University of Minnesota police officers, Long Xiong and Kong Moua.
Several officers expressed that Shop with a Cop is a PAL event that they make sure to volunteer for every year.
Target provided a very welcoming shopping experience for the kids. In addition to giving the PAL kids full range of the store during regular store hours at the busiest time of the year, Target employees staff a gift wrapping station. Target also provided gift bags and snacks while they waited for Target volunteers to wrap each gift. Target also introduced a new feature this year by providing a supply of gift bags for PAL youth that could not participate in the Show With A Cop event.
Special thanks to the Target manager who helped to coordinate the event, Paul Matthews.
See photos of the event in our gallery.
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On Tuesday December 6th the Minneapolis Police Activities League partnered with Target to host the annual Shop With a Cop event at the Downtown location. More than twenty youth were teamed with police officers and community mentors to help the youth with holiday shopping for their families. This year’s event was possible thanks to a grant from Target.
This year’s event was attended by Assistant Chief Janee Harteau, PAL Board members Carlos Baires Escobar, Amanda Chavez, and Chris Murray. We were also joined by one of our civilian police employees and long time community activist Rowena Hicks. Many of the police officers that voluntarily participate in the program make it a point of doing so every year. The enjoy interacting with the youth and being able to provide some holiday cheer to inner city families.
Special thanks to the Target employee who helped to make this event a successful, Sean Ewaldt.
See photos of the event in our gallery.
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Dozens of kids will have smiles on their faces this year as a direct result of a generous grant that Minneapolis PAL has received from Target. The grant will be used to partially fund the annual Shop with a Cop Program sponsored by Minneapolis PAL.
The program partners Minneapolis Police Officers and community volunteers with low income youth as they go shopping to buy holiday gifts for their family. Many of these families would not receive holiday gifts if it were not for this program.
Target has been a proud sponsor of the Shop with a Cop program for the past several years. In addition to supporting the program with funding Target employees set up a gift wrapping station in the center of the store to help wrap gifts for the kids. If the kids are extra nice they might also be rewarded with a healthy serving of milk and cookies.
Shop with a Cop will be held at the Target store on West Lake Street December. Check out these photos and more by clicking on our photo gallery.
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