It was a full house Tuesday evening at the Rochester International Event Center for "The Crime Crisis," a discussion about rising crime in Minnesota. We had not been aware of the earlier-scheduled-but-canceled event, until the Star Tribune gave local critic Erin Nystrom's objection to it such extensive attention.

Thanks to that attention, we — and likely many others — were able to buy tickets and attend.

Both Tuesday's editorial ("A think tank and a country club lock horns," April 26) and that day's commentary were misleading. Apparently because it was sponsored by the Center of the American Experiment, both thought it would be a platform for a right-wing sound-off. Instead, it was what it had advertised itself to be: a clearheaded presentation of the current facts regarding crime in Minnesota.

It was a well-done program. An excellent and organized speaker, Jeff Van Nest, led a panel discussion with Rochester's Chief of Police Jim Franklin and Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson concerning the crisis in their areas of responsibility. More importantly, the focus turned to prevention at the community level.

Having a background in the human factors side of crisis management — preparation, prevention and response — I was particularly impressed with this emphasis. The entire program Tuesday evening was neither biased nor political.

As was stated in the rescheduling announcement, "rising crime is a major concern for most Minnesotans." Unfortunately, the Center's critic and the Star Tribune Editorial Board saw that as a lower priority than the danger of having someone talk about it in a public forum.

Yet, as I stated at the outset, without the hullabaloo caused by this attempt at silencing free speech, we would have missed the event. So, a big thank you to the media and to Nystrom.

Jan Meyer lives in Rochester.