Crime & Safety

(VIDEO) Celebrating Together

Cinco de Mayo celebration helps old and new Hopkins residents get to know one another.

Cinco de Mayo may be a traditionally Mexican holiday. But Hopkins sees it as chance to bring all of the community’s diverse groups together.

The , the  and the Joint Community Police Partnership hosted a family Cinco De Mayo celebration Saturday at.

The event had Hispanic food, Latin music and activities ranging from piñatas to face painting.

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It also was an opportunity to help old and new residents get to know one another.

Hopkins is even as its overall numbers decline. Blacks, who made up 5.2 percent of the population in 2000, accounted for 13.6 percent of in 2009.

Find out what's happening in Hopkinswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The trend likely reflects a growing Somali population. The Associated Press, which studied data nationally, reported that about one in three people with Somali ancestry live in Minnesota.

A strong community-police relationship is always important, but it can be even more important with new immigrants.

“Sometimes people come from different corners of the world, and the trust in the police isn’t always there. And this is what we’re trying to do today: ‘Look this is America, this is Minnesota, this is Hopkins, and we’re here to help you,’” Police Chief Mike Reynolds said.

Of course, is was still all just fun to the kids swinging at piñatas, navigating through a bike rodeo course or just running around with painted-on whiskers.


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