Dozens of law enforcement leaders on Monday say their agencies will coordinate resources and information as part of a “data-driven policing approach” to combat recent gang violence that has rattled the Twin Cities suburbs.

Leaders of 46 law enforcement agencies announced that the ramped-up gang response will be led under the umbrella of the state’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center, which is led by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The center will “coordinate, deconflict,” provide direction and facilitate information sharing” to assist with gang-related crimes for all the agencies involved in the partnership.

As opposed to a task force, “this hits the ground running right now” when it comes to collaboration and sharing resources, said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans.

Since September, police say groups of loosely organized gangs and groups of Somali teenagers and young men are responsible for the chaotic shootings and brawls in suburbs. Officials’ decision to specifically warn of “Somali gangs” has drawn backlash and support, some worrying it will cast unfair negative aspersions upon an entire community for the actions of a few youths.

Evans, flanked by federal and local law enforcement, was among several leaders who emphasized that the violence perpetrated by these gangs represent a fragment of the larger population.

“Somali American gang and group violence is a problem and the Somali community is not the problem,” he said. “It’s a new and emergent issue in terms of how decentralized it is and impacting so many communities across the Twin Cities and requires an approach that is unique, he said.

Christopher Dotson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office, said it’s just as important for agencies to communicate with community leaders as it is with each other.

“Community leaders know the problems facing their neighborhood, maybe better than anyone,” Dotson said. “Working with our community partners is not only the smart thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”

Officials who are raising alarms argue it’s necessary to discuss the reality of a small number of Somali children getting wrapped up in gangs and cliques that shoot against each other over social media beefs.

Unlike the more organized gangs of decades past that would concentrate their activities in specific areas, police say today’s gangs are highly mobile and fight over social media clout rather than over drugs or money.

One of the fights forced parents and students to evacuate an Eden Prairie High School football game on Oct. 2 after an 18-year-old man allegedly shot and injured two people in a parking lot.

A few days later three men who were at the Eden Prairie fight were allegedly targeted in a shooting outside one of their homes in Bloomington where roughly 100 shots were fired. Police suspect the shooting may be retaliatory for the Eden Prairie fight.

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