St. Cloud Mayor Kleis Says Data Doesn’t Back Up Downtown Safety Concerns

(KNSI) – St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis is pushing back against what he believes are common misconceptions about downtown safety.

He says that every analysis of the data shows the city to be safer than average for Minnesota and the business district is a patrol that police officers regard as desirable. Kleis says the concern is understandable given recent events in the state, but that doesn’t make it true.

“Minnesota was an epicenter for some of the worst crime issues in the country, let alone the world in the last few years and I think every community has experienced that. But we look at trend lines over a period of time. St. Cloud, it’s a very safe city and particularly one of the safest beats is downtown.”

Kleis says the best barometer for safety is whether people are willing to put money to work in the area to develop it. He points to the Iron Street Distillery and a handful of other new projects on East St. Germain Street, as well as the downtown summit as proof that investors are buying in on St. Cloud.

Kleis says it is hard to get the information to be top of mind, though, when there are always sensational rumors that suggest the opposite.

“I hear rumors on things all the time. I just got an email this morning about somebody saying there’s a busload of folks coming in from the border that was just dropped off in St. Cloud. Now that’s the fifth time I’ve heard that over six months.”

Kleis also used an incident from earlier this month as an example. On the 13th, a man fell from the upper stories of an apartment building. No foul play is suspected in the incident but it was reported on social media as a suspicious shooting.

Kleis spoke with KNSI’s Bob Hughes Tuesday morning.

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