National COPS Evaluation of St. Paul: 2000
Support Services and Administration
Personnel
In 1996 SPPD employed 768 persons, of whom 201 were female, 51 African American, 29 Hispanic American, 19 Asian American, 7 Native American, and 45 disabled.38 Of 571 sworn officers, 82 were females. (When Chief Finney took office in 1992, there were 21 sworn female officers.) This was the first year in which 50% of new recruits joining the Department were either minorities or women—17 women joined the sworn ranks, as did 6 individuals representing minority groups. The Department was under no court order. There were 73 resignations, and 36 changes in title took place.
RECRUITMENT and PROMOTIONS: Competition for jobs in SPPD is high. Applications are received from many officers currently serving in other departments, including Minneapolis. Several programs provide stepping stones into the Department for those who do not qualify for immediate entry: in addition to the Parking Enforcement Officers program (started by Finney in 1986 to help minority youth enter SPPD), the Park Rangers and Community Liaison Officers are also programs that provide entry opportunities for individuals wishing to study law enforcement and become police officers.
In 1996, there were 21 lieutenants; 10 commanders; and 2 deputy chiefs in SPPD. Sergeants and above have civil service tenure (except for the Chief and Deputy Chiefs, who do not), but the Chief has flexibility in assigning even ranking officers to patrol or special units. Of 140 sergeants, 70 are supervisors, while the others are investigators. Job openings are publicized department-wide, along with criteria to be applied in the selection process.39 A career opportunities sheet is also circulated. Candidates are interviewed for special openings, and the Chief is concerned with identifying and bringing especially talented individuals up to work in different areas. For imminent promotions, the Chief has recently used a problem-solving task as part of the selection process. For example, when the last promotions for sergeant occurred, there were five candidates for three openings. Chief Finney asked for recommendations from candidates on how best to address theft from auto, which was up in the downtown area. Each candidate presented to him orally—one particular officer was especially impressive in the problem solving, and as a result, got the promotion and the job of developing the project itself. She proved herself quickly: after speaking at a monthly meeting for business groups downtown in the skyway in August, she received immediate calls from numerous companies asking how they could facilitate the project; she is now working on it city-wide.
SPPD has a low yearly attrition rate, most of which is due to retirement. About 10% of candidates are lost in the academy and through field training. Traditionally, entering officers stayed in the Department for twenty-five to thirty years or more, through most of their professional lives. This may be changing, however, due in large measure to a 1994 pension plan change, when a private retirement system was dissolved and officers joined the Public Employees Retirement Association. The old system set benefits for everyone from Chief to patrol officer at 40 or 50 percent of a standard police officer's top annual salary. Under the new system, benefits are based on the five highest earning years (including overtime), multiplied by about 3 percent for each year of service. The limit for most is 100 percent of the average of the five highest years. In addition, benefits are portable to other agencies. In 1997, 17 officers retired; 15 did so the previous year, and 16 in 1995. Virtually all older officers will be eligible for full benefits by 1999, when the Department expects that only about one third of its remaining officers will have spent ten or more years with the force.
TRAINING UNIT: In the first full year of Chief Finney's administration (1993), every sworn officer and civilian employee attended a multi-day training session with consultant Chris Braiden, retired superintendent of the Edmonton Police Department, in community-oriented policing. Later in the year, SPPD also held a community policing reception in which city leaders and residents were invited to hear Braiden as well.
Training standards overall have continued to become more rigorous and demanding over time in SPPD. The Minnesota Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) system requires every new officer to have at least a two year associate degree and twelve weeks of skills training. Current SPPD recruits are then required to undergo 14 weeks of training in the Academy, plus 14 weeks in the Field Training Officer program. The curriculum of the Academy, along with specific skills and legal training, includes cultural studies focusing on several different ethnic groups living in Saint Paul, including Asian, African American, and Hispanic components, as well as classes conducted by the County and City Attorney Offices and social service providers. Of the approximately 385.5 hours of instruction, about 78 hours are devoted to COP, including an eight hour segment dedicated to problem solving. Field Officer Training also focuses (in part) on COP through participation in COP projects, attendance at neighborhood meetings and working with residents. In 1996 40 new police recruits graduated from the Academy—the largest in 19 years.
SPPD officers also must complete sixteen hours per year of continuing education, also referred to as in-service training. The specific training offered varies from year to year, but always includes training in weapons proficiency, since SPPD officers are required to qualify eight times a year. In addition, during the last year, the Ramsey County Domestic Abuse project offered presentations, as did the Homicide Unit, the Crime Laboratory, K-9, and the Gang Unit; in addition, a simulated "officer survival skills" exercise was conducted for all personnel in the Department. (SPPD is one of three to four agencies that the State POST Board has approved as an accredited sponsor for CE credits.) In addition to this required in-house instruction, individual officers take numerous classes at other local and national institutions and facilities. The Department favors this approach of encouraging officers to select courses of interest to them individually or that they find would be useful to the specific job they are doing. During 1996, approximately 11,000 credits were taken by SPPD officers.
Finally, the Department has created the Professional Development Institute, bringing in professionals from throughout the country to teach in training programs held at SPPD that are offered to officers from throughout the region. This arrangement defrays the costs for SPPD officers who attend these sessions as well. PDI series topics in 1996-97 included Street Safe (officer survival), a graffiti symposium, background investigations, Reid technique of interview and interrogations, workplace violence, supervision of police personnel, risk management, peer support training, Field Training Officer, and critical incident/SWAT.
The Unit also has provided training for area high school students interested in law enforcement, and maintains the department's library and audio visual resource center.
Created in 1995, the Citizen Police Academy is offered twice a year, taught by the Training Unit. It runs for 11 weeks, once a week for a three hour evening class. Approximately 30 citizens participate in each session: applicants are recommended by their Neighborhood District Councils. Citizen members of the Police-Civilian Internal Affairs Commission, and all volunteers who work with the Department, are required to take this training before serving. Topics include history and evolution of police departments, officer recruitment, training through defensive tactics and firearm issues; many hands on classes, including shoot-don't shoot scenarios at the County Sheriff's Department training facility, and meeting canine teams and horses used by mounted police. The citizen trainees also give feedback to SPPD concerning their perceptions of crime and safety in their neighborhoods. 109 citizens have graduated to date: they have performed over 700 hours of volunteer time in the past year.
VOLUNTEER SERVICES: Saint Paul Police Department's volunteer programs are decades old. The Neighborhood Assistance Officer program began in 1976 after the Department's Research and Development Unit studied the NAO program in Dayton, Ohio. Its creation was sanctioned by the City Council. The NAO program is based on the assumption that citizens themselves can make a large contribution to preventing crime by assisting police officers in non-enforcement types of activities. NAOs are trained citizen volunteers who assist police in the neighborhoods in which they live: they watch houses when people go on vacation, do home security checks and tell people how to secure their houses, go on detail to special events (a church rummage sale, bazaar, or fair). They might also monitor troublesome youth in neighborhoods. Police Reserve Officers direct traffic and are assigned to special events for crowd and traffic control. This program dates back to World War II. Both NROs and NAOs must complete the Citizens Police Academy, and are further trained by the Community Services Unit of SPPD. They do not carry weapons or engage in actual law enforcement activities.
The police chaplain works out of the Community Services Unit. In addition, permits for special events in the City are issued through the Unit. During 1996, in addition to the volunteer activities of Police Reserve and Neighborhood Assistance Officers, DARE Officers worked with students, and Officer Friendly worked with kindergarten children. Approximately 110 volunteers worked with the Department in 1996; about 45 to 50 of these did 85% of the work. One volunteer worked close to 2500 hours this year alone.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS: Prior to this decade, Internal Affairs used to review all complaints against police officers, including not only formal complaints, but lower level accusations of rudeness or unsatisfactory behavior. Late in the 1980s, this was changed: in order to eliminate what seemed to be too much of a "them against us" image, with the Department lining up against citizens, resolution of lower level complaints was moved to the Districts. IA then coordinated all investigations, with lesser complaints taken care of at the District level by the Commander, who was responsible for investigating and writing the letter to the citizen, responding to the complaint. If complaints are made repeatedly against the same officer for the same type of incident, the Commander will usually take some action. The process therefore has moved closer to community level resolution.
The subject of a civilian review commission was raised several times from the 1960s on. As a Captain, Bill Finney had done a report, "Police/Citizen Oversight Study: Overview," in 1987, in light of the 1986 Police/Community Relations Task hearings, in which the subject of Internal Affairs review of complaints against police officers was constantly voiced. The study concluded that a formal citizen review board was not necessary; rather, information and communication with St. Paul citizens could eliminate problems with the Police Department, and this could happen through including citizens in the everyday functioning of the Department (such as through the Chaplain, NAO, Reserve, PEO, programs, and active advocacy of recruitment and promotion of protected classes, especially minorities, into the sworn ranks). But in 1993, under Mayor Scheibel, the Police/Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission was established by city ordinance. At this time Chief Finney took a leading role in developing the Commission, which was established after intense negotiations with citizen groups and the Police Federation.
The Commission is made up of five civilian members (appointed by the Mayor) and two police representatives (members of the Police Federation, chosen from within SPPD and presented to the Mayor) who served for three year terms. It is charged with reviewing serious allegations of misconduct by members of SPPD—excessive force, improper conduct, improper procedure, inappropriate use of firearms and any other complaint referred to it by the Mayor and/or Chief of Police. Completed Internal Affairs investigations of police misconduct are reviewed by the Commission, which recommends a final disposition, and disciplinary action when warranted, to the Chief.40
There has been no significant change in numbers of complaints filed and reviewed over the last few years. In 1996, Internal Affairs reviewed 114 cases; there were 58 charges involving use of force and 56 non-force; final dispositions resulted in 30 unfounded allegations, 27 not sustained (insufficient evidence), 38 exonerated (lawful and proper act), and 19 sustained. There were 17 firearms review dispositions, only one of which was found not justified.
38 38 SPPD Annual Report, 1996, p. 20.
39 Applicants proceed through a screening process conducted by mid-level managers, who rank them as highly qualified, well qualified, qualified, or not ready at this time. Finney himself will select from the top three categories.
40 SPPD Annual Report, 1994, p. 17.
