In the Beginning — 9

Recognizing good work became a reality in 1975 when an award system was initiated, which included three levels of commendation within the Department. On February 18, 1975, the first Commendation Review Board meeting was held to assist Chief Richard H. Rowan assign commendations for exemplary work. During the first month, fifteen Class “C” commendations were awarded.

The first Medal of Merit (Class “B” Commendation) was awarded to Officer David Huberty in December, 1975. He was honored for his bravery while entering a smoke filled apartment, in order to save the life of another.

The Saint Paul Police Ranking Officers Association conceived their own award called the “Police Officer of the Year.” The award, presented to an officer yearly during National Police Week, was designed to show supervisor appreciation of the selected officer. The first officer recognized was Officer Howard Skillings, who went on to receive the National Police Officer of the Year award presented annually by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (I.A.C.P.) and Parade magazine. The award, based on his outstanding record as a patrol officer and his dedication to helping disadvantaged children in his neighborhood, was presented in Washington D.C. by President Gerald Ford.

With the Public Safety Building bursting at the seams, additional office space was sought and became available in the old Public Works building, directly across the street at 100 East Tenth Street. After extensive renovation, the Annex was ready for occupation on December 22, 1976. Today, a skyway connects the two buildings.

During the 1970s, numerous demonstrations, peace marches, community parades, special events and visiting dignitaries required increased staffing for crowd control, safety and security.

In January, 1978 Senator Hubert H. Humphrey's funeral drew thousands of national leaders and foreign dignitaries to Saint Paul, where he lay instate at the Capitol rotunda for several days. Humphrey, the 38th Vice President of the U.S. (1965-69) and strong advocate of civil rights, was a presidential candidate in 1968, losing a close election to Richard M. Nixon. Today, many remember this as one of the most complex events ever managed by the Saint Paul Police Department.

1979 brought state-of-the-art technology to the Crime Laboratory. The Department, along with the B.C.A. and Minneapolis Police Department, were the first in the nation to join forces in the creation of an automated fingerprint identification network, called the Minnesota Automated Fingerprint Identification Network (M.A.F.I.N.). This network enabled fingerprint examiners to enter fingerprints from crime scenes into a database containing fingerprints of all arrested persons in Minnesota, including juveniles from Minneapolis and Saint Paul. A positive search resulted in a hit, indicating that the suspect had been identified through fingerprint records previously on file. This cooperative effort was brought to the Department through the hard work of Lieutenant Gerald A. Hanggi and Sergeant Joseph K. Corcoran.

William W. McCutcheon began the first of his two, six-year terms as Chief of Police on April 2, 1980. As the initial order of business, he reviewed the Police Department’s structure and eliminated one of the four deputy chief positions. Next, he reorganized duties and responsibilities into three divisions, instead of the traditional four. A deputy chief commanded each of the three divisions: Technical and Administrative, Patrol, and Investigative. The chief initiated a supervisor’s rotation program to broaden perspectives related to the management of police operations. This career enhancement tactic brought motility of supervisory personnel throughout the various units and functions of the Department.

The use of the indoor skyway system by the public increased dramatically in 1981, necessitating specific regulation. In May, 1981, an ordinance was approved to provide for the free movement of foot traffic, to insure the safety and comfort of the citizens, and to prevent property damage in the downtown skyway system. The Police Department worked closely with the city council to draw up this ordinance, which prohibited certain conduct in the skyway system and other indoor public areas.

By 1981, Saint Paul had over 10,000 Indo-Chinese residents, of which eighty-percent were Hmong refugees from the mountainous regions of Laos. Communication was difficult between the police, trying to assist, and these new residents who needed their help. In an attempt to overcome this problem and better serve the Indo-Chinese community, the Department worked closely with Lao Family Community Incorporated and the Minnesota Refugee Resettlement Office. As a result, two Indo-Chinese Community Service Officers (C.S.O.), David Yang and Gnia Dua Kong, were hired. These C.S.O.s worked as interpreters, as well as performing their regular staff duties. Both became sworn police officers with the Saint Paul Police Department.

Difficult communication for hearing and speech impaired citizens was enhanced in June, 1981, when the Department installed a teletypewriter or TTY system in the Emergency Communication Center (E.C.C.). The TTY enabled these citizens to convey their messages to the police in typewritten form via telephone lines.

In 1981, the Department began using a new investigative aid. The Psychological Stress Evaluator (P.S.E.), a tape recording and charting device, enabled a trained operator to assess voice stress in answers given to “yes” or “no” questions. In 1981 alone, 225 appointments were made for P.S.E. examinations. There were 138 actual exams performed, fifty-five “no shows” and thirty-two cancellations. Of the thirty-two persons that called to cancel their appointments, three stated that they were guilty of their offenses. Five persons confessed while under examination.

The Crime Prevention Curriculum Development Project introduced the use of police officers from the Department to area schools during 1980-1981. The Crime Prevention Unit conducted a six-week course as part of the student’s social studies curriculum. The purpose of this project was to share concerns about property crimes with juveniles, who were the major offenders. Surveys have shown that attitudes toward crime, the police and the community have improved as a result of these classes.

Another new program, initiated on April 1, 1981, was designated Counter-Force. The program’s intent was to reduce residential burglaries by a concentrated effort on behalf of both the police officers and the citizens of Saint Paul. Before the program’s initiation, the 1981 burglary rate was approximately twenty-five percent ahead of the previous year’s. Within weeks of the program’s implementation, the rate had dropped significantly.

The Employee Assistance Program (E.A.P.) initiated and still fosters many “firsts” in the law enforcement field. E.A.P.’s founder and director, Sergeant Morrie Anderson, explained that the Saint Paul Police Department was the first to establish in-house support for all employees, sworn and non-sworn, as well as their spouses, children, relatives, and significant others. The Post Shooting Trauma Team was created with police-helping-police in peer counseling.

A mandatory fitness program was initiated in 1981 to improve job performance and morale, while reducing the risk of heart attack, job-related injuries, and absenteeism due to illness. To this day, Saint Paul police officers have an opportunity to participate in three one-hour, on-duty exercise periods each week. It has been reported that several life threatening health concerns have been identified and/or reduced as a result of this valuable program

Five years into team policing, fiscal conditions demanded Departmental reorganization due to budget pressures experienced by the city as a whole. The Department was forced to consolidate the six team areas into two sectors, East and West. The cutback also required that the Department reduce its personnel allocation by thirty-eight sworn and twenty-three non-sworn positions. For only the second time in the Department’s history, it laid-off police officers. The lay-offs affected twenty-nine new officers, who were given “pink slips” after their academy graduation and told that they would be contacted for reappointment when officer positions reopened. Within thirty days, all twenty-nine officers were back to work, facilitated by the city’s early retirement severance package given to sworn officers who chose to retire. The city determined that it would save money with the salary difference between senior officers’ wages and that of a rookie. With the retirements, the city of Saint Paul lost over eight hundred years of law enforcement experience but gained twenty-nine new officers eager to serve its citizens.