Meet the New Bossen

On August 6, Tawana Henderson and her kids woke up from the sound of their windows shattering. Minneapolis police were raiding their apartment following what their report calls "a controlled buy of suspected crack cocaine." The officers ordered Henderson, her boyfriend, and the children--two boys and two girls, aged 4 to 9--down on the ground and proceeded to search the apartment. Their finds included a plastic baggie, miscellaneous papers, a cell phone, and a plastic lid containing a substance the police report identifies as "suspected crack cocaine," while Henderson claims it was carpet cleaner. No drug charges were filed as a result of the raid, but Henderson's boyfriend was arrested for trespassing.

It's a scenario, claim Henderson and other residents of Bossen Terrace--a 66-unit, federally subsidized apartment complex near the intersection of Hwy. 62 and I-35W--that has been playing out with increasing frequency since residents first complained about what they call police harassment ("The Bossen Plantation," 12/17/97). Building management has informed residents that people not named on their leases will be considered trespassers; as a result, complains Henderson, "you can't have a visitor without worrying that they're gonna get arrested." Following a recent surge in trespass arrests, car towings, and questioning by Minneapolis cops, resident Sandra Battle says that the atmosphere at Bossen Terrace is volatile. "If we don't do something soon, somebody's going to get killed," she predicts.

In an attempt to defuse the tension, says Battle, she solicited the help of Hamline University law professor Robin Magee, and the two women set up a meeting between the residents and 3rd Precinct Inspector David Indrehus--a meeting Battle claims Indrehus canceled at the last minute. Not so, says Indrehus, who contends that he wasn't notified of the meeting until the day it was scheduled to be held. While he's not familiar with the details of the tenants' complaints, Indrehus maintains the cops are just doing their jobs. "There's a lot of narcotic activities and property crimes in that area," says Indrehus. "[Yet] while all of the other neighborhoods in South Minneapolis are complaining that they don't get enough police service, [the residents at] Bossen Terrace are complaining that they have too much service."

Battle says some of the tenants' fears stem from the complex's impending sale to the Community Housing Development Corporation. Richard Brustad, the nonprofit's vice president and chair of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, says the group plans to spend $5.6 million--$3.1 of it coming from the Minneapolis Community Development Agency--on rehabbing the complex, and will continue to operate it as low-income housing.

Still, Battle and other residents worry that police are working with building management to rid the complex of existing tenants in preparation for the new owner. It was right after the announcement of the sale earlier this month, they maintain, that police activity at the building increased. But 3rd Precinct supervisor, Lt. Bud Emerson, says he hadn't heard about the sale before being contacted by City Pages. "This is just our regular patrol [schedule]," he maintains.

Battle, for her part, has set up another tenant meeting for August 18. Indrehus said Monday that this time he had advance notice. "[But they] set this up to be a lynch mob, so I'm not going to attend."