Overall Minnetonka Crime Down in 2010 but Home Burglary Numbers Jump

The 2010 crime statistics for the city of Minnetonka have been released. The following information was calculated based on that report. Also included are some recently released facts about the . 

• Overall the number of crimes reported in Minnetonka is down about six percent, from 2009 to 2010.  From 2008 to 2010, crime is down 13 percent in the city. 
• Residential burglaries are up 32 percent over 2009. However, the number of residential burglaries in 2010 is very similar to the number reported in 2008. 
• The number of tickets written by  for not wearing their seat belts has jumped from 378 in 2009 to 1142 in 2010. That’s an increase of more than 302 percent. 
• The number of crimes involving juveniles is down more than 20 percent between 2009 and 2010. Those crimes include underage drinking, curfew breaking, running away, and tobacco and narcotics possession. 
• is down 19 percent from 2009. Simple assault is up about 20 percent from 2009. 
• The number of robberies, sex crimes and motor vehicle thefts are down slightly from 2009. 
• Bike theft, burglaries from businesses, shoplifting and arson are down significantly from 2009.  
• The instances of reported trespassing has more than doubled, from 12 in 2009 to 26 in 2010.
•  The number of speeding tickets that Minnetonka Police wrote in 2010 is almost identical to the number written in 2009.
•  See the sidebar for a PDF document from Minnetonka Police with the full statistics on crime in the city from 2010, 2009 and 2008.  
• Minnetonka dispatch receives an average of 132 calls for service every day.
• Minnetonka Police Explorers volunteer an average of 2,500 hours a year.
• volunteer nearly 5,000 hours a year in service to the community. 
•  Minnetonka is a member of the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force which includes officers from Minnetonka, Edina, Eden Prairie and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. The Minnetonka Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics () team includes 12 officers and two supervisors who are highly trained in the latest tactics and equipment in order to respond to situations beyond the scope of the patrol and investigative divisions.
• The Minnetonka Police Department is part of a tactical consortium with the Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins and St. Louis Park police departments.
• The Minnetonka Police Department began in 1955, when Minnetonka was still a township and two police constables were hired to serve the township’s 15,600 residents. Four years later, in 1959, the Minnetonka Police Department was officially formed, and by 1965 it included 13 sworn officers. Today, the Minnetonka Police Department . 
•  The seven most serious felonies are the crimes of murder, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, arson, and vehicle theft.