Report Recommendation 2.2

The Saint Paul Police Department has comprehensive policies regulating officer response to resistance and aggression; use of authorized equipment, including firearms and electronic control devices; officer-involved critical incidents; use-of-force reporting and review; documentation; training; and outside investigations. 

The Saint Paul Police Department published its policy manual online in an interactive form and it is available to the public for review and comment.

Established 2017

The Saint Paul Police Department’s current policy follows a model emphasizing minimal force and measured escalation necessary under the circumstances. The department asks officers to ensure that their actions are reasonable, necessary and done with respect. 

In 2018, the department published completely new and updated use-of-force (Response to Resistance and Aggression) policies which incorporated dozens of ideas presented by the community and obtained through a collaborative process.  The department also published a revised canine policy that further limited the types of calls where a canine could be used as an apprehension tool. 

The Saint Paul Police Department conducts quarterly training for officers in responding to resistance or aggression, with the primary focus on de-escalation through communication, creating time and space, and employing minimal force techniques.

The Saint Paul Police Department has trained the entire front line to national Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) standards. This training has been provided to all new police officers since 2014.

When the call isn't a crime, but a crisis: How St. Paul police train officers to respond                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Pioneer Press | Apr. 20, 2017

St. Paul Police, Hamline University partner to improve how officers deal with mentally ill                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Star tribune | Apr. 20, 2017 

With the support of city government and private funding, the Saint Paul Police Department opened a new 18 million dollar state-of-the-art training facility located in the Railroad Island community of Saint Paul. This facility features an advanced “shoot/don’t shoot” scenario-based training technology, emphasizing de-escalation and alternate options to force. It also features multiple classrooms, meeting rooms and training rooms that support the numerous training demands and requirements of successful and professional 21st century police officers.

The building was dedicated in October 2017 as the Richard H. Rowan Public Safety Training Center 

Saint Paul's new training site: shoot/don't-shoot tests but also de-escalation
​Pioneer Press | Sept. 28, 2017

The Saint Paul Police Department purposely provides pursuit driving training. Department policies emphasize individual officer discretion and highlight the responsibilities of acting with due regard for public safety when weighing the reasons for pursuing and not pursuing.

The pursuit driving policy specifically supports any officer or supervisor who chooses to not pursue or cancel a pursuit when they feel conditions of safety outweigh the need to capture the violator. The department will not pursue known violators, except in only the most extreme cases to protect public safety. 

The Saint Paul Police Department proactively adopted a critical incident policy in 2016 that facilitates external agency investigation of officer-involved shootings or in-custody deaths.

Established (2016) / Updated (May 2019)

The Saint Paul Police Department does not have the authority to choose its prosecutor under state law. The department supports established best practices for prosecutorial review of cases of police use of force resulting in death, officer-involved shootings resulting in injury or death and in-custody deaths.

The Saint Paul Police Department reports arrest-related deaths and officer-involved shooting data to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The Saint Paul Police Department’s critical incident policy addresses expectations for data privacy and follows the data rules established under Minnesota law. 

The Saint Paul Police Department's review of all policies impacting transparency and accountability related to use-of-force incidents and the release of data is on-going.

The Saint Paul Police Department works closely with the Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office to ensure the department correctly interprets and follows the rules established by law in the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA). 

The Saint Paul Police Department follows the Minnesota Government Data Privacy Act when determining which data will be released. The introduction of “Body-Worn Camera” (BWC) legislation has created an additional evaluation requirement and the statute elements were incorporated into the department’s BWC policy. 

The Saint Paul Police Department currently reviews all uses of force at the executive level.

The Saint Paul Police Department has studied the feasibility and legality of formalizing review bodies to consider use of force, serious incidents, near misses and other actions having the potential to damage community trust or confidence (see Recommendation 2.3).