Report Recommendation 2.1

The Saint Paul Police Department holds close the values of working with neighborhoods to prevent crime, improve quality of life and reduce the need for police enforcement. The department also believes in and has the practice of notifying communities of specific enforcement efforts that impact their neighborhoods.  Policing initiatives should never be harmful to the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

In 2016, Chief Axtell formed a Community Engagement Unit (CEU) to enhance community outreach and participation.  Focusing on co-production of public safety with the communities we serve is one of the unit’s core missions.  Building on this success and commitment, Chief Axtell began the Community Engagement Division (CED) in 2019. 

Since 2017, the CEU and CED worked tirelessly to build relationships between the Saint Paul Police Department and the communities we serve.   Notable initiatives included:

• The Law Enforcement Career Path Academy (LECPA) (Pillar 1.8)
• The CEU hired four Community Engagement Specialists, each representing a specific community represented in Saint Paul
• Expansion of the departments recruitment program focused on attracting diverse candidates

Saint Paul Police Youth Outreach and Programming Unit | Facebook

Since 1991, the Public Housing Agency (PHA) and the Saint Paul Police Department have collaborated to provide the community policing program known as A Community Outreach Program (ACOP) to create a drug-free and crime-free environment and to provide for the safety and protection of residents, employees and visitors in public housing developments.  The ACOP community-oriented team consists of both police officers and community liaison officers (CLO’s).  ACOP efforts are focused primarily at four Saint Paul Public Housing sites: McDonough, Mt. Airy, Roosevelt and Dunedin.  The ACOP office is located in a family housing site.

Objectives:

• Improve the working relationship between communities and the police department.
• Expand police services provided to public housing residents by utilizing various types of patrol methods including squad, bike and foot patrol.  

The Saint Paul Police Department believes that community stakeholders provide invaluable input to police policy and procedure.  The department posted an interactive police manual online during the second quarter of 2017.  The manual and associated pages were linked to a community feedback button allowing the reader to provide feedback to the department about every policy section.   This community feedback is reviewed at the top command levels.  The department also spent considerable time ensuring minimal redaction existed to increase transparency. 

In 2017, the department began its Body Worn Camera (BWC) program and equipped every front line police officer with a BWC.  The policy governing this program was introduced to the community more than a year earlier in a series of forums to ensure the final draft was attentive to the desires of the community as a whole. 

In 2018, the department presented the community with a newly written use-of-force policy (Response to resistance and Aggression) and solicited input as to how it could better reflect community values.  More than 100 recommendations were received and the department was able to incorporate more than half. The final draft of the policies were shared with the community approximately a month before the policy was implemented. 

In 2018, the department received feedback from the community that the policy related to interacting with the deaf and hard of hearing was not sensitive to current terminology and did not incorporate all who may be affected with communication challenges.  The department co-wrote a new policy with the community and published a better policy which truly reflected the needs and values of the community.

The Saint Paul Police Department will continue to partner with community stakeholders to review policy manual sections, important to them, to ensure that it is consistent with our mission to deliver trusted service with respect – with no exceptions.

The Saint Paul Police Department will participate in the City’s small business program utilizing small businesses wherever possible for purchases identified by Contract & Analysis Services (CAS). 

The Saint Paul Police Department’s Language Equity Program (LEP) policy on translation and interpretation was updated and implemented in 2016. The department’s public information officers and LEP liaisons are trained in communicating about race and infusing racial equity into city communications. 

The Saint Paul Police Department is constantly assessing “Racial Equity Impact” and will make policy changes based on the results of these assessments and best practices to address any sources or support for bias identified in policy. 

Not applicable for local law enforcement.