(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Viral photo prompts Minneapolis to rethink crime scene cleanup
Minneapolis is developing new protocols for cleaning up crime scenes after a picture of a bloody street drew attention on social media.
By ericroper
December 18, 2013 at 9:48PM
The city is developing new protocols for cleaning up crime scenes after a picture of a bloody street drew attention on social media.
City Council President Barb Johnson wrote on Facebook that she asked city officials to clean 37th Street and Girard Avenue North after viewing the photo (above) of bloody snow, taken four days after a recent homicide. She said it took several attempts to get "all the material removed."
Johnson wrote that she also inquired with police and public works about creating protocols for the future.
"The weather conditions were a complicating factor in dealing with the aftermath of a crime scene, once it was released by the homicide investigators," Johnson said. "However, a more clear response procedure is being developed and will be used across the City."
This isn't the first Twin Cities crime scene citizens have been left to clean up. A 2011 story documented how one entrepreneur founded a St. Paul company to clean up crime scenes after learning how often citizens are left to deal with the problem.
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