Inspector Lee Edwards,
Commander of 4th Precinct
by Lee Edwards & the WHO editors
WHO: What is one thing that you would like 4th precinct residents to know about you?
EDWARDS: I'm really a nice guy . . . despite any outward appearances.
Inspector Lee Edwards, at the precinct
WHO: When you hear the term "community policing", what is the first image that comes to mind?
EDWARDS: Actually, I have two images: the first one is Andy Griffith. The second one is Clevon Little. He was the Sheriff of Rockridge in Blazing Saddles.
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WHO: What is your favorite TV police drama of all time and why?
EDWARDS: The Wire. It’s a show on HBO. In my opinion the best cop show on TV, bar none! Even though the series is set in Baltimore, it illustrates how politics, morals and crime can sometime morph into an incestuous relationship. There are no clear winners in this show, everyone has an angle, and the good cops and citizens struggle to just get their basic needs addressed so they can do their jobs and survive.
WHO: What is your favorite memory of growing up on the Northside?
EDWARDS: I grew up in Detroit, Michigan. [WHO: oops] That'll always be home for me . . . even though I've been living in Minnesota for about 30 years now. But hey, once a Detroiter, always a Detroiter. But to answer your question: one of my favorite memories of the Northside was with my old partner Dave Roiger. We were called to address a problem of kids playing football in the street. I think it was on or near the 1600 block of Sheridan.
Anyway, Dave and I parked our squad, took our gun belts off and joined the kids in the football game. Hey, you should have seen the look on those boys' faces! One moment they thought we were going to arrest them and the next moment they're running deep for a long fly ball. We had a great time that day, laughing, sweating and playing two-hand touch in the street. It brought me back to my childhood in Detroit.
Better yet, Dave and I made a few friends, told the kids to watch out for cars and asked them to wrap the game up in a half an hour. They promised they would. Funny thing though, we were called to the precinct right after we cleared this call. Someone from the neighborhood called to complain about us. I guess they didn’t like the service they got. a
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WHO: When did you first realize that you wanted to go into law enforcement?
EDWARDS: My first day in rookie school. I got bit by the "Cop Bug".
WHO: What is the last really memorable book you read - and what was great about it?
EDWARDS: Oh that's a hard one. I'm a voracious reader. Everything from comics to cookbooks. But the last really memorable book I read was Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobigraphy of Nelson Mandela. (I was a part of his body guard staff when he came to Minneapolis. I never met a more gracious man. Everyone else pales in comparison.) And for fiction, it’s the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Full of wizards, magic and heroism.
WHO: What is one thing that you wish all Minnesotans understood better about the Northside?
EDWARDS: Despite all the crap you hear or read from the mainstream media, the people who live and work on the Northside are like mountain flowers: resiliant and beautiful.
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