National COPS Evaluation of St. Paul: 2000
A History of the Saint Paul Police Department
In 1851, Alexander Marshall was appointed to enforce the laws of a violent Territory of Minnesota, whose northern, eastern and southern boundaries were the same as those of today's state, but whose western limits ran to the Missouri and White Earth Rivers and encompassed most of what is today North Dakota. Marshall lasted only until 1854 before resigning. Shortly after, Saint Paul was incorporated as a city, with William Miller appointed Chief of Police. He was assisted by four patrolmen. By 1857, with murder, robbery, and assault frequent occurrences, and prostitution and gambling rampant, the police force was increased to twelve, and a Vigilance Committee of 40 men was established. Even this enlarged force failed to keep the peace, however, and the City maintained its reputation for disorder and criminal activity. Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. With the onset of the Civil War, river traffic was greatly reduced and the business life of the City came to a virtual standstill. Three-quarters of the police enlisted in the Army, and no funds could be found to pay the remainder. When the night police were disbanded, a force of two hundred volunteers organized to take their places—dividing into four companies, with each responsible for maintaining order in one section of the City.
After the War, Police Chief Michael Cummings and twelve patrolmen replaced the Vigilance Committee. The City began to assist in crime reduction efforts: for example, to address flourishing prostitution, an arrangement was worked out with the House of Good Shepard to accept female offenders for rehabilitation instead of sending them to jail. Private citizens also assisted the Department: to aid patrolmen struggling to propel drunks uphill to jail, one merchant left a horse and delivery wagon parked at 7th and Wabasha overnight for their use. By 1885, the population of the City had reached 45,000, and the mounted patrol of horse and bicycle riders had grown to 160 officers. Four police substations were opened on May 1, 1887, at 747 Margaret Street (now an apartment building), Robert and Delos Streets, Rondo and Western, and 490 North Prior.
Around the turn of the century, police officers on the beat communicated by signals sent with their nightsticks: a sergeant searching for a patrolman tapped twice for a "call rap;" a patrolman needing assistance from another gave a single rap, or whistle, to be answered by the same from another officer. Headquarters moved several times until 1911, when it was located at 110 W. Third Street, at Washington. In 1930, with the advent of one-way radio, the police installed receivers in sixteen squad cars, and calls were broadcast over KSTP Radio. When the dispatcher received a complaint, he interrupted general programming on the station, sounded a gong, and gave the call to the squad three times; after the call was completed, regular programming resumed. In 1939, the Department went to two-way radios.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Saint Paul's Police Department was riddled with corruption—these were the days of Dillinger and O'Connor, when outlaws were left alone in St. Paul as long as they committed their crimes elsewhere.3 This changed with the Hamm kidnapping, and from 1938-40, when Bill Salvi was mayor for two years, a reform of the Police Department was launched. SPPD became a "reform" department, with close oversight and control of officers a primary concern: to ward off corruption, officers assigned to day, midnight, and afternoon shifts alternated every two weeks. From World War II to the mid-1970s, the Department was a highly centralized organization that delivered services with an approach described in a later evaluation as "when-called-we-respond."4 The first specialized unit was created in the late 1950s, when a small tactical unit (under the command of Tony Tigue) comprised of six officers and a sergeant operated citywide, taking on whatever special projects developed and focusing on "hot spots." Through the efforts of Larry McDonald and Al Johnson, the first teams of officers and canines were also trained and formed at this time—with Saint Paul only the second police department in the country to be using them. These teams began working with the tactical unit and soon proved their effectiveness: one won a national "Lassie" award for locating a fleeing burglar.
SPPD officers whose institutional memory extends back to the 1970s see in today's "community policing" the elaboration of basic practices and principles that were present in the Department over two decades ago. They describe foot patrol beats that "came and went"—some continued for periods of several years, with the same officers walking these beats, and getting to know the local neighborhood well. Beyond this, interest in the principles and practices underlying community policing was evident in specific programs begun in Saint Paul during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The first initiatives—H.E.L.P.-P. (the Housing Environmental Liaison Police Project) and the Police Community Relations Program (which started in the late 1960s under Chief McAuliffe)—were followed in the mid-1970s by a pilot project in team policing. These early efforts took place during the administration of Chief Richard Rowan, who served from 1970-79 and oversaw the implementation of team policing citywide in 1977. When announcing his resignation, Rowan cited the implementation of team policing as a major achievement of his 9.5 years as chief.5
In becoming Chief, Rowan had vied for the position with then Captain William McCutcheon. Reportedly McCutcheon was a strong and influential figure in the Department even under Chief McAuliffe. When McCutcheon lost in his bid for chief, he ran for the state senate, where he served for the next ten years while retaining his position as captain and then deputy chief in SPPD. When Rowan left SPPD, there was no question of who would be the next Chief: Mayor George Latimer appointed McCutcheon, who resigned from the State Senate in order to serve. McCutcheon was chief from 1980-1992. According to Latimer, McCutcheon was the right person for the job: he understood the City, he was a civil libertarian and respectful of citizens' rights, and he was respected by his officers. Complaints of police brutality were negligible under his tenure. McCutcheon's considerable acumen in financial matters was enhanced through his legislative experience—he had chaired the Senate Tax Committee—so that he was particularly shrewd in understanding city finances, ferreting out funds, communicating with lawmakers, and mobilizing support for new policing programs. Described by some as a tough manager who ran a tight ship, Chief McCutcheon was nevertheless open to innovation and change. He "made major strides in recruiting women and minority officers, and then promoting those officers to positions of responsibility." Recognizing that stopping drug abuse ultimately began with prevention, he coordinated fund-raising efforts that brought DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) to Saint Paul schools.6 SPPD's 1992 Annual Report credits his administration as having "set the stage for the new era of community policing."7 Between 1972-1977, he also was largely responsible for developing high POST standards that remain in place in Minnesota.
After two terms as Chief, at age 65, McCutcheon announced that he would not seek reappointment. The McCutcheon era came to an end on July 15, 1992, when Mayor James Scheibel named Bill Finney Chief of the Saint Paul Police Department. Two days later the City Council unanimously approved his selection and Finney became the first African-American Police Chief in Minnesota history. Today, Chief Finney leads a force of 571 sworn officers (up from 519 when he took office) and 197 civilians.
3 See Paul Maccabee, John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks' Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul, 1920-1936. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1995.
4 "Team Policing in St. Paul, Minnesota, An Evaluation of Two Years Implementation," November 5, 1979, p. 4. Draft, prepared by the Team Police Evaluation Unit, SPPD.
5 In an editorial published on June 27, 1979, the day on which Rowan announced his intended retirement at the end of the year, The Saint Paul Dispatch, concurred.
6 DARE is now funded by public sources, and continues in city schools.
7 SPPD, Annual Report, 1992, p. 24.
