Business Owners Press Councilmember Maxwell on Crime Response After Shields-Cedar Area Burglary

One month after a pickup truck ripped security gates off Meta Liquor on Shields and Cedar, business owners in the area say they’re still waiting for meaningful change. The May burglary — the third break-in at the store since 2021 — drew attention to what nearby business owners describe as ongoing crime and homelessness concerns in the corridor.

When pressed at a recent City Council meeting about business owners who say they call police repeatedly and feel hopeless, Councilmember Tyler Maxwell pointed to stretched law enforcement resources across the city.

“They are stretched incredibly thin, going from emergency to emergency to emergency, to the point where even if they would like to spend more time in a certain neighborhood, in a certain community, building relationships, the nature of the job is not allowing for that,” Maxwell said.

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The Meta Liquor owner told reporters he’d contacted police more than 10 times this year regarding problems near the property. Surveillance footage from the May burglary showed thieves using a truck to force open the security gates and doors before additional people entered and took thousands of dollars in merchandise.

One nearby business owner, who asked not to be identified, said a homeless encampment documented near the businesses in May was no longer present during a recent visit — but expressed doubt the situation had been resolved.

“Police came a few weeks ago, but they’ll come back,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do. Even if we called the police officer out here, they won’t do nothing.”

Maxwell said the city continues to work on both public safety and homelessness concerns. Business owners say they’re watching to see whether conditions improve in the months ahead.

The Breakdown

• The Meta Liquor burglary in May marked the third break-in at the store since the current owner bought it in 2021
• The owner reported contacting police more than 10 times this year about problems near the property
• Councilmember Maxwell acknowledged officers are “stretched incredibly thin” and can’t spend sustained time building relationships in specific neighborhoods
• A homeless encampment previously documented in the area had been cleared, though a business owner expressed doubt the removal would be permanent

What This Means for You

Maxwell’s response to business owners frames the crime issue as a resource allocation problem — officers responding to emergencies citywide rather than maintaining a presence in any one area. Whether you see that as a funding question, a staffing question, or a priorities question shapes how you evaluate his handling of public safety. If you live or work in this corridor, the gap between repeated police calls and the relief business owners describe feeling is a direct measure of whether the city’s current approach is working for your neighborhood.

What to Watch

Maxwell says the city “continues to work on” public safety and homelessness concerns, but business owners are measuring results in concrete terms: whether break-ins stop, whether encampments stay cleared, whether calling the police produces a response that feels meaningful. The encampment removal one business owner described — followed immediately by her expectation that “they’ll come back” — is the pattern worth watching. Does the city’s work produce sustained change in the corridor, or does it operate on a cycle where enforcement clears a problem temporarily and moves on, only for the same conditions to re-emerge after attention shifts elsewhere? The business owners quoted here are waiting for the answer to that question, and so should you.