Crime on the minds of many in Minneapolis tonight

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and interim Police Chief Tim Dolan will hold a community forum this evening on the North Side to discuss progress of the Police Department's new juvenile unit.

The unit investigates robberies, assaults and family violence involving youth under age 18.

The forum begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Av. N.

Also tonight, Northeast residents are "whipped up," according to a news release and getting together in the wake of what they say has been a large jump in violent crime in the first four months of 2006 vs. the same time in 2005. Dolan will attend this meeting as well.

And next Tuesday, churches in southwest Minneapolis are looking to see what they can do to help North Side residents stem the crime tide in their part of the city. Politicians, police and city policymakers will convene in a south Minneapolis church.

The gatherings comes as the city in recent days reported a significant jump in serious crime in 2005.