A common complaint among teens in the Minnetonka community is an overly vigilant police force; a criticism that is not without justification. Consider how many police you see patrolling highway 7 on a Friday night. Now, think about how much serious crime is truly happening in Minnetonka. Granted, there are occasional instances of teens drinking and driving, robberies, or vandalism just as there are in any other town. However, many high school aged kids are thinking is “it really necessary to have 4 to 5 cops scanning the same quiet neighborhoods each weekend?” It seems as if the police force is wasting their time focusing on catching minors goofing around slightly past their curfews when they could be monitoring more dangerous communities in the metro area. Their intensive scanning of some of the least threatening neighborhoods in Minnesota is not only a waste of time, but a waste of money as well. The tax dollars poured into ensuring security in our district (paid by most of our parents, whom are protective enough as is) are astronomical to provide additional luxuries to police such as 2015 Dodge Charger squad cars. Are these accommodations at all vital or are they merely a result of surplus tax money from lack of crime in our area? The dynamic between teenagers and the police force within the Minnetonka population resembles a game of cat and mouse. The police force goes out of their way to catch teenagers for the most minor of instances, such as claiming their taillight is out. In reality they are searching for an excuse to catch them in the act of committing a crime. This dynamic is completely inefficient, for it only instills a sense of distrust and fear within the youth towards the people who are employed to keep them protected.