2012 News Archives

Auto theft surcharge rankles enforcers. Minnesota drivers pay more than $2.6 million a year to a program designed to prevent auto thefts, but nearly half of that money is diverted to the state's general revenue fund. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, November 3, 2012).

Pilot Project Puts Alleged Stalkers on GPS. Officials say the goal is to ensure victim safety, as well as make sure a defendant complies with any no contact orders. (KSTP-TV, St. Paul, MN, November 1, 2012).

Ramsey County project will use GPS on abusers. Ramsey County is launching a project using GPS technology to instantly warn victims of stalking or domestic violence when a defendant is nearby, and then dispatch police. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, November 1, 2012).

Ramsey County pilot project puts stalkers on GPS. Under the program, defendants and victims who volunteer to participate will each have a GPS device. The defendant will wear an ankle bracelet, and the victim will have a "stalker alert" device to carry with her at all times. (Associated Press, Minneapolis, MN, November 1, 2012).

Ramsey County aims to nip fraud in the bud. Ramsey County pursues low-level criminals to keep small theft schemes from spinning into larger ones. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, October 16, 2012).

Domestic Abuse Awareness Month. Approximately 1.3 million women are physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year in Minnesota, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (Asian American Press, St. Paul MN, September 5, 2012).

Insurance agents charged with fraud. The Ramsey County attorney's office filed charges against two men in connection with an alleged annuities' fraud scheme prosecutors say was hatched from the Lowertown offices of St. Paul financial firm BeneVento Capital. (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, August 31, 2012).

Editorial: Protecting teens from the sex trade. Earlier this year at a Days Inn in Roseville, a hotel employee was suspicious about activity in one of the rooms. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, August 28, 2012).

Hotel employees urged to help fight child sex-trafficking.pdf. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi is recruiting a new set of eyes and ears to combat child-sex trafficking: hotel desk clerks and housekeepers. (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, August 23, 2012).

Authorities, Hotels Team Up to Fight Sex trafficking in Ramsey County. A growing number of children in Minnesota are becoming victims of sex traffickers. (WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, MN, August 23, 2012).

Combating Sex Trafficking Press Advisory. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office is partnering with local law enforcement, lodging owners and operators as well as advocacy groups to combat sex trafficking in our community. (RCAO, St. Paul, MN, August 22, 2012).

Man gets 21-year sentence for prostituting underage girl. Roseville Police were called to the Days Inn Hotel at 2550 Cleveland Avenue North in Roseville last January by the manager who suspected a patron was prostituting an underage female. (KARE 11, Minneapolis, MN, June 6, 2012).

Special intervention for East Side curfew-breakers. By joining forces and increasing inter-agency and agency-community communication, the (IL3CP) project hopes to reduce crime and increase the sense of safety in a special section of the East Side. (Eastside Review, St. Paul, MN, May 14, 2012).

St. Paul takes East Side kids under its wing. The cornerstones of successful community prosecution are law enforcement, (city and county) prosecutors and community leaders. We intend to make this summer safer for every child in our community. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, April 22, 2012).

For cops, courts, a primer on PTSD.  The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office teams up with the Minnesota Alliance on Crime to host a PTSD training seminar for law enforcement, prosecutors and counseling professionals.Click Ramsey County Attorney's Office PTSD Brochure [PDF] for more information. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, April 17, 2012).

Nine charged in gang rape of St. Paul girl, 14. Nine suspects with alleged ties to a Twin Cities area street gang were charged Friday with the rape of a 14-year-old girl on St. Paul's East Side last November. (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, March 23, 2012).

Police join forces against illegal use of legal drugs. The battle lines have become blurred in recent years, however, as narcotics are carried into cities not by smugglers but by delivery trucks, and change hands in homes instead of the street corner. (East Side Review, St. Paul, MN, March 11, 2012).

East Metro Law Enforcement Groups Form Coalition. The coalition will pool and share information throughout the year as the group gathers resources and best practices. (KSTP 5 Eyewitness News, St. Paul, MN, February 28, 2012).

Review: Medical examiner should have requested expert help in murder case. In response to the review, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office has asked McGee to consult clinicians on future cases when needed and to attend all statewide medical examiner conferences.  (Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN, February 16, 2012). 

Ramsey County prosecutor fights crime's aftershocks. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office will soon provide additional assistance for those victims of violent crime who experience PTSD. (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN, January 1, 2012).