Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Organizational Study of the

Saint Paul Police Department

FINAL DOCUMENT OF 12-08-2019

Submitted 12-08-2019

Researched and written by Commander Jack Serier

1
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table of Contents
Executive Brief: Organizational Study 2019 Saint Paul Police Department………………………………………… 5

Section 1.0 Preface & Introduction ...................................................................................................... 9

Section 1.1 Overview of the City of Saint Paul ............................................................................ 13
Section 1.2 Office of the Chief…………………………………………………………………………………………………….26
Section 1.21 Chief of Police .......................................................................................................... 27
Section 1.22 Inspections Unit ....................................................................................................... 27
Section 1.23 Public Information Officer ........................................................................................ 29
Section 1.24 Internal Affairs ......................................................................................................... 30
Section 1.24 Assistant Chief of Police ........................................................................................... 30
Section 1.24 Internal Affairs ......................................................................................................... 31
Section 2.0 Patrol District Operations…………………………………………………………………………………………32
Section 2.1 2014-2018 Citywide Calls & Crime Data ................................................................... 34
Section 2.2 Sworn Staff Census .................................................................................................. 37
Section 2.3 Calls for Service Data ............................................................................................... 43
Section 2.4 Queue-Time & Response Data; Calls for Service Data ................................................ 46
Section 3.0 Staffing Levels for Patrol Operations Model ............................................................. 63
Section 3.1 Sworn Staffing Levels ............................................................................................... 63
Section 3.2 Proposal to Mitigate Long-Term Loss Factors in Personnel ........................................ 68
Section 3.3 Evaluation Solutions to Priority 2 to Priority 5 Timed Out Calls for Service ................. 71
Section 3.4 Positive Effects on Priority 2 Queue-Times ................................................................ 81
Section 3.5 Solutions to the Priority 2 Calls for Service Response Times ...................................... 83
Section 3.6 Solutions to Priority 2 Queue-Times/Timed Out Calls for Service ................................. 85

Section 4.0 Scheduling ....................................................................................................................... 88

Section 4.1 Coordination of Patrol Assets with Demands of Scheduling ....................................... 88
Section 4.2 Large Event & Training Staffing ................................................................................. 90
Section 4.3 Overview of Other Scheduling System Options ......................................................... 93
Section 5 Patrol Operations: Specialized Units ............................................................................... 96
Section 5.1 Special Weapons and Tactics Team ........................................................................... 96
Section 5.2 Ordinance Disposal Unit ........................................................................................... 99
Section 5.3 F.O.R.C.E. Unit ...................................................................................................... 101
Section 5.4 Watch Commander Office ...................................................................................... 103

2
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 5.5 Canine Unit ............................................................................................................ 105

Section 5.6 Crisis Negotiations Team ....................................................................................... 106
Section 6.0 Major Crimes Division Data Analysis ............................................................................. 108
Section 6.1 Definitions and New Cases Equation....................................................................... 108
Section 7.0 Major Crimes Unit Analysis ........................................................................................... 113
Section 7.1 Robbery/Homicide Unit ......................................................................................... 113
Section 7.2 Sex Crimes Unit ..................................................................................................... 123
Section 7.3 Family Violence Unit .............................................................................................. 128
Section 7.4 Crimes Against Property (CAPROP) Unit .................................................................. 132
Section 7.5 Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit ....................................................................... 142
Section 7.6 Gang/Gun Unit ...................................................................................................... 148
Section 7.7 Juvenile Unit .......................................................................................................... 153
Section 7.8 Narcotics, Human Trafficking, Criminal Proceeds Unit ............................................. 158
Section 7.9 District Investigations (Western, Central, & Eastern Districts) .................................. 162
Section 8.0 General Recommendations for all Major Crimes Units-Introduction .......................... 167
Section 8.1 General Recommendations for all Major Crimes Unit ............................................. 167
Section 8.2 Proposed Additional Units/Command Staff ............................................................ 167
Section 8.3 Proposal for Director of Strategic Criminal Intelligence & Investigations ................. 170
Section 9.0 Support Services and Administration Division Data Analysis....................................... 172
Section 9.1 Division Organization ............................................................................................. 172
Section 9.2 Employee Assistance Program. ............................................................................... 173
Section 9.3 Fleet and Radio Services Unit ................................................................................. 176
Section 9.4 Training Unit .......................................................................................................... 179
Section 9.5 Impound Lot .......................................................................................................... 190
Section 9.6 Property and Evidence Unit .................................................................................... 194
Section 9.7 Records Unit .......................................................................................................... 197
Section 9.8 Human Resource Unit ............................................................................................ 199
Section 9.9 Forensic Services Unit ............................................................................................ 202
Section 9.92 Technology Unit ..................................................................................................... 205
Section 9.93 Building Maintenance Unit ..................................................................................... 209
Section 10.0 Community Engagement Division Data Analysis .......................................................... 212
Section 10.1 Special Operations Unit .......................................................................................... 213
Section 10.2 Community Partnerships Unit ................................................................................ 217
3
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 10.3 Youth Programming and Outreach Unit .................................................................. 222

Section 10.4 Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Unit/Parking Enforcement ......................................... 227
Section 10.5 Community Outreach and Stabilization Unit (C.O.A.S.T.) ........................................ 230
Section 11.0 Study Author Biography ........................................................................................ 233
Section 12.0 References ............................................................................................................ 234
Section 13 .0 Glossary ........................................................................................................................ 236
Section 14.0 Staffing Levels Chart/Additions to Staffing Levels ................................................... 237

4
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

ORGANIZATIONAL STUDY 2019

SAINT PAUL POLICE DEPARTMENT
EXECUTIVE BRIEF
December 2019

OVERVIEW

Study Background and Methodology

The Saint Paul City Council requested Chief of Police Todd Axtell to conduct an
organizational study to examine processes and staffing levels at the Saint Paul Police
Department in 2018. Chief Axtell commissioned this study in January 2019.

The organizational study data collection methods examined department statistics, human
resource data, qualitative analysis of records management system information, qualitative
interviews, and observation of unit operations. Study findings are divided into three (3)
categories: Data/Observations, Risk Management Considerations, & Recommendations.

Study Scope
The scope of this project includes identifying major themes and phenomena impacting
workloads and service levels to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Saint Paul. The
study examines unit processes, business practices, work culture, employee wellness,
staffing levels, policy development, and procedural outcomes. This study addresses recent
data about the Saint Paul Police Department to contextualize the current environment for
delivering law enforcement services by examining a six-year period between 2013-2018,
with data points in 2019 where available.

Key Themes
• Saint Paul is a community growing in population and development.
• The community is challenged with some of the highest poverty rates in the state for adults
and youth.
• Department employees are dedicated and strive to advocate for victims and provide a safe
community environment.
• The department is organized for delivering service in crime intervention, investigation,
prevention, and social disorder issues.
• Elements of the organization act as a bridge to long-term governmental and non-profit
entities working in prevention, diversion, and community wellness.
• Many areas of the department possess staffing levels that meet the service needs of the
community.

5
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Changing procedures and staffing additions to Patrol Services will greatly increase service
levels for the highest priority calls in our community.
• Increases in video and digital data have created more complex and solvable investigations
than ever before, requiring restructuring of some investigative units with an investment in
more staff to meet the growing demand for their expertise.
• The expansion in community, statutory, and agency expectations and requirements for law
enforcement training and education require restructuring of curriculum, additional staff,
resources, and partnerships to innovate the pre-service, in-service, and continuing
education of police officers.

Overview of the City of Saint Paul

• Saint Paul is a growing community which had a population of 286,840 in 2000 and is projected to
have 320,000 people living in the city by 2020; its highest population since 1970.
• Saint Paul has an increasing number of households; 112,109 in the year 2000 and almost
125,000 today.
• Over half (50.5%) of city housing units are rental properties, creating new challenges regarding
the dynamics of community.
• The largest new development of planned housing, office, and retail in generations will bring an
increase of over 3,800 new housing units and 8,000-10,000 residents to Saint Paul in Highland
Park with another large development planned on the East Side.
• Saint Paul experiences people living in poverty at 20.4% which is almost double the state
average of 10.5%.
• The community has large areas of concentrated poverty and people of color in Minnesota
experience poverty at 3-4 times the rate of the majority population; demonstrating race-equity
gaps in the community.
• 33% of children in Saint Paul live in poverty.
• Saint Paul is in the most diverse region of our state and people of color are over half the city’s
population; overall Minnesota has only 20% people of color.

OUTLINE OF DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of Investigative Unit Recommendations

• Re-focus Homicide Unit investigations; only handling death investigations and moving
Robbery/Kidnapping into its own unit.
• Create a Violent Crime Against Persons Unit (VCAP) to alleviate approximately 50% of the types
of cases assigned to Homicide investigators. Some egregious crimes assigned to the Homicide
Unit cannot be properly addressed due to the frequency of homicide investigations.
• Expand the Gang/Gun Unit afternoon shift with staff from investigative units this study
recommends being consolidated.
• Create an Initial Shooting Response Team within Gangs/Guns Unit to be quick-response
investigators to all shooting scenes.
• Establish a Criminal Intelligence Unit staffed primarily by civilian analysts that synthesizes
existing information into usable data for reducing and preventing violent crime and
targeting serious property crime offenders.
• Expand the size of the Sex Crimes Unit to build the appropriate capacity for these very
complex cases and create a Child Abuse Unit to handle the burgeoning number of abuse
cases referred from Ramsey County Child Protection.
6
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Add investigative positions to help with the volume of burglaries, auto theft cases, and
other property crimes.
• Close the Special Investigations Unit and FORCE Unit and merge staff into other
investigative units where additional staff is needed.
• Work to establish automation in existing electronic systems to quickly inform victims about cases
without solvability factors.
• Structure investigative processes that rely less on case management model and focus more on
known offenders.
• Establish a decision matrix for each investigative unit to uniformly handle cases and build system
consistency in case determination.

Summary of Patrol Operations Recommendations

• Make policy/procedure changes to the dispatching and deployment of Patrol Officers
during periods of high demand; increase baseline patrol staffing by 6.5% for Patrol
Operations to ensure timely response to Priority 2 Calls for Service.
• Fully staff the existing Patrol Operations scheduling model to reduce organizational stress
for meeting mandatory minimum staffing levels.
• Add to the existing Code Enforcement Police Officers across Patrol Operations to address
problem properties that impact neighborhood quality of life.
• Increase FTO and Training Unit staffing to operate two (2) academies per year to reduce
the “peaks and valleys” in general staffing experienced annually.

Summary of Community Engagement Recommendations

• Continue to build a solid infrastructure to support the LECPA program, which is a model for
recruiting community connected people serving in public safety.
• Sustain structured community outreach events and programing such as Safe Summer
Nights and Shop with a Cop.
• Add staffing to Traffic Investigations, Community Partnerships, and Special Operations to
improve service levels to the community.

Summary of Support Services Recommendations

• Increase the ratio of non-sworn staff in the Crime Lab to improve staff longevity and build
long-term institutional expertise.
• Seek accreditation for Property Room operations.
• Continue to work towards full NIBIN and Rapid DNA lab capabilities to reduce gun
violence.
• Expand training opportunities for supervisors and investigators through annual training
curricula.
• Contract with a work-space architect to maximize the footprints of current buildings and
prepare a proposal for much needed additional space.

Summary of General Staffing Level Recommendations

Add 2-6% to the baseline staffing level of the entire department, through an annual
Structural Staffing Reserve (SSR) calculation, so that the agency has proper staffing
available 24 hours per day to provide long-term sustainable service to the community.

7
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Summary of Staffing Recommendations

• Transfer 1 Senior Commander, 1 Commander, 19 Sergeants, 14 Officers, and 2 Civilian
Analysts to other units as part of an organizational realignment of investigative functions.
• Add 33 Investigative Sergeants to meet the challenging workloads facing investigations on
behalf of victims.
• Add 33 Officers to Patrol Operations to reduce Priority 2 call waiting times and increase
service levels in our most impacted neighborhoods.
• Add 3 Officers to investigative units to provide enhanced service in victim advocacy and
offender accountability
• Add 3 Officers and 1 Sergeant to the Training Unit staff to meet growing law enforcement
training standards and community expectations.
• Add 4 Command level positions and 1 Sergeant to effectively manage the service
expectations of our community.
• Add 25.5 civilian positions for managing and supporting a high level of service to our
community.

Study Author
The author of this study is Commander Jack Serier of the Saint Paul Police Department.
Jack has been a law enforcement officer for 29 years, served as Sheriff of Ramsey County,
and holds a doctoral degree in Leadership, Policy, & Administration from the University of
Saint Thomas.

8
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 1.0 – Preface & Introduction

Preface
The following is a four-part organizational study of the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD). This study is
intended to identify major themes and phenomena impacting workloads and service levels to the
residents, businesses, and visitors of Saint Paul. The study examines unit processes, business practices,
work culture, employee wellness, staffing levels, policy development, and procedural outcomes. This
study addresses recent data from the Saint Paul Police Department to contextualize the current
environment for delivering law enforcement services by examining a six-year period between 2013-
2018, with data points in 2019 where available.

This study has been designed as a stand-alone document. It does not compare the Saint Paul Police
Department to other policing organizations. This study is designed to provide recent historical patterns
of SPPD workloads, staffing, mathematical analysis, and in-depth qualitative interviewing to draw
conclusions about what is needed to bring the community to an equitable level of law enforcement
service.i This study is also designed to be a document that can be updated on an annual basis. The
following information is from SPPD data and can be added-to on a monthly or annual basis to provide
continuous benchmarks about performance and workloads, becoming a Department-wide dashboard.

The City of Saint Paul is a growing and vibrant community. It also faces many challenges to due racial
and economic inequities and recent increases in violence. However, there are many opportunities
available to Saint Paul and this study was done to provide a roadmap for improvement to one of its
major governmental functions. This study does not provide analysis as an “either/or” proposition, but
rather as part of a larger social and governmental structure to support the future of this city.

9
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Introduction
Throughout the years, the Saint Paul Police Department has had different organizational configurations.
At the beginning of 2019, the SPPD was organized into three major divisions of operation managed by
an Assistant Chief of Police reporting to the Chief of Police. The organizational structure appeared as
follows:

Chief of
Police

Assistant Chief of
Police

Deputy Chief of
Deputy Chief of Support Services Deputy Chief of
Patrol Operations and Major Crimes
Administration

In April 2019, the SPPD reorganized into four divisions. This was done to reduce the managerial span of
control and better reflect the organization’s diverse operations. This reorganization was done without
any added budgetary costs. The new organizational structure is:

Chief of Police

Assistant Chief of
Police

Deputy Chief of
Deputy Chief of
Deputy Chief of Support Services Deputy Chief of
Community
Patrol Operations and Major Crimes
Engagement
Administration

It is with the above organizational changes that this study is being completed and documents this new
Department structure through the methodology explained in the next section.

10
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The Purpose, Scope, Methodology, and Components of this study:

Purpose: Analyze current demands for service, business practices, staffing levels, process
improvements, risk management factors, and deficiencies and/or redundancies in services to the
community present at the time of the study.

Scope: This study will analyze many different functions of the agency including current organizational
structure, times of work, workloads, unit overlaps, unit deficiencies, workload problems, identify
strengths, identify weaknesses, and address current concerns of the staff and the community about
phenomena that have already been identified as problems and determine root causes.

Methodology: Both quantitative and qualitative measurements will be used to conduct this study
through an inductive methodology. An inductive method does not include a hypothesis to be either
validated or disproved; rather data will be drawn out of statements, surveys, and existing statistical data
to make observations, identify generalized principles, and create recommendations.

Components: The proposed approach to completing this study is modular. The Saint Paul Police
Department is a large organization with many different business lines. Approaching this study in a
modular framework will allow certain “front burner issues” to be analyzed more quickly. It will also
allow the SPPD to utilize parts of the study prior to the completion of the whole study.

11
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The organizational study modules:

• Patrol Operations Division

• Major Crimes Division
• Support Services Division
• Community Engagement Division

Module Resources Required Timeline to Full Completion

Interviews of key staff, surveys,

analysis of CAD data, analysis of
reports, review of staffing
Patrol Operations Division levels, analysis of scheduling, 4-5 months
review of workload study

Interviews of key staff, surveys,

analysis of CAD data, analysis of
reports, review of staffing
Major Crimes Division levels, analysis of scheduling, 3-4 months
analysis of case management,
review of workload.

Interviews of key staff, surveys,

review of staffing levels,
analysis of scheduling, review of
Support Services & workload. 2-3 months
Administration Division

Interviews of key staff, analysis

of reports, review of staffing
levels, analysis of scheduling,
Community Engagement review of workload. 2-3 months
Division

12
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 1.1 - Overview of the City of Saint Paul

The following section will cover:

• Statistics regarding the demographics of the City of Saint Paul.

• Housing facts about the city.
• Trends about economic conditions.
• Trends in future growth in the community.

Saint Paul is home to 304,442 residents as of 2016 and is projected to climb to 316,000 residents by
2020 as calculated by the Metropolitan Council (1). The general population increase began after 1980,
after the population of the city dropped to 270,230.

The City of Saint Paul has a land area of 56 square miles and is the capital city of the State of Minnesota.
Settled on the banks of the Mississippi River, and boasts over 4,000 acres of parks, 100 miles of trails, 14
Colleges and Universities, world class fine arts, historic architecture, vibrant neighborhoods, multimodal
transportation and a robust business community (1).

The following section provides historical and current information about housing, demographics, and
employment in Saint Paul. This information is important to contextualize the environment of city
government today.

13
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Overview: Population
A. Population History in Saint Paul (1):

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.12

14
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Overview: Housing
B. Housing History in Saint Paul (17)

Figure 1.13

The City of Saint Paul has approximately 119,625 housing units as reported in the ACS 5-year estimates,
2012-2016 (2). Over the last 25 years, housing vacancy rates in Saint Paul have been relatively low.
Vacancy rates in owner-occupied housing have been stable, ranging from a low of 0.7% to a high of 2.7%
during the recession of the mid-2000s. The rental market has showed some variability, and in 1990 and
2010, rental vacancy rates peaked at 7.7% and 7.2% respectively. Currently vacancy rates are trending
downward with 1.5% for owner occupied units and 3.7% for rental units. Rental markets are typically
considered stable at 5% vacancy, and with low available housing supply and increased housing demand,
there is upward pressure on rents. Tenure of units is nearly equally divided between owner- and renter-
occupied units, with a slightly higher percentage of renter-occupied units--0.5% or 1,081 units. This is
the first time in modern city history that the number of renter occupied units has surpassed the number
of owner-occupied units. From 1990 to present, there has been a 2% increase in the number of
15
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

households with a 9% decrease in the number of households being owner-occupants and a 14% increase
in the number of renter households. This change can be attributed, in part, to an increased number of
single-family houses that have become rentals as well as the construction of more multifamily rental
housing within the city (2).

C. Housing Unit Census 2012-2016 (2)

Figure 1.14

D. Vacancy Rate History 1990-2016 (17)

Figure 1.15

16
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

E. Owner and Renter Households 1990-2016 (17)

Figure 1.16

Figure 1.17

New major development projects are in the planning stages. A large development is planned on the East
Side on the site of the Hillcrest Golf Course and the largest new development of planned housing, office, and
retail in generations will bring an increase of over 3,800 new housing units and 8,000-10,000 residents to Saint
Paul in Highland Park (25).

17
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Overview: Employment

F. Employment Population in City of Saint Paul (3)

Figure 1.18

18
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Overview: Demographics and Economic Disparities

G. Demographic Composition of the City of Saint Paul (3)

The demographics of Saint Paul make it one of the most diverse communities in Minnesota.

Figure 1.19

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2017 American Community Survey 1 Year Data (2)

The City of Saint Paul has grown steadily in recent years. Most of this growth came from increases in
Asian American, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and multiracial populations. The proportion of the
population identifying as two or more races saw the greatest relative growth at 30.5% over the five-year
period; the Asian American population had the second-most relative growth at 19.1%, and the
highest increase in actual numbers, adding nearly 8,000 new residents. The American Indian and Alaskan
Native population shrank by approximately 200 people, or 10.0%, and the white population decreased
by 1,000, or about 0.6% (3).

19
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

H. Poverty Information in Saint Paul 2008 & 2013 (3)

I. Figure 1.19 (1)

Statewide Poverty Rate is for children under 18 years of age is 10%; while in Saint Paul 33% of those
under 18 years old experience poverty (5)(6).

20
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 1.12 (3)

Figure 1.19(2)

The overall poverty concentration in the City of Saint Paul continues to be a challenge for the
community, especially when juxtaposed to the greater region where the density of poverty is not nearly
as great as in Saint Paul and the other urban core city of Minneapolis. U.S. Census data places the
general poverty rate at 20.4% (3).

21
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 1.19(3) (7)

22
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Concentrated poverty remained a problem in the central cities even during the 1990s when overall
poverty rates were declining. The number of people living in areas of concentrated poverty in the
central cities increased slightly from 218,609 in 1990 to 220,164 in 2000. In contrast, other than a census
tract in Fort Snelling, there were no suburban census tracts that qualified as areas of concentrated
poverty in 2000. 2 Areas of concentrated poverty expanded quite dramatically between 2000 and 2010,
impacting far more residents in both the cities and the suburbs. The sudden jump in the number of
suburban people living in areas of concentrated poverty was striking. The number soared from fewer
than 500 in 2000 to 49,528 in 2010. The number of Minneapolis and Saint Paul residents living in areas
of concentrated poverty increased even more, from 220,164 in 2000 to 287,320 in 2010 (3).

General Poverty Levels by Density in the City of Saint Paul

Figure 1.19 (4) (4)

23
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

J. Homelessness in Saint Paul

Figure 1.19(5)

Total Number of People Experiencing Homelessness, by Household Type and Living Situation (20)

Review of Section 1.1

Data/Observations:
In analyzing the data from the City of Saint Paul, these and other publicly accessible statistics describe
the social dynamics our police officers are working with each day as recruiters, advocates, counselors,
and guardians dedicated to public service. The following is a synopsis of Section 1.0:

• Saint Paul is in the region of our state that is most diverse; where people of color are about half
our city population, overall Minnesota has only 20% people of color.
• People of color in Minnesota experience poverty at 3-4 times the rate of white people.
• Saint Paul experiences people living in poverty at 18.7%, which is almost double the state
average of 10.5%.
• 33% of those in poverty in Saint Paul are children.
• Saint Paul is a growing community, where in 2000 we had 286,840 people living in the city and
projected to have 320,00 by next year (an almost 12% increase in population).
• Saint Paul is a city with a growing number of households; 112,109 in the year 2000, and now
have 124,700 today.
• 50.5% of Saint Paul’s housing units are rental properties creates new challenges about the
dynamics of community.
• The Saint Paul Police Department has increased the diversity for people of color and women in
employment in the agency in the last three years.
• The Saint Paul Police Department is serving a community with a larger impoverished population
than other local areas and regions of Minnesota; especially acute is the disproportionate
number of children living in poverty in Saint Paul as compared to the state as a whole.

24
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Risk Management Considerations:

• The Saint Paul Police Department has a gap between the diversity of the Department and the
community it serves. This has the potential deleterious effect of creating a real or perceived gap
in understanding between communities of color and the SPPD serving them, especially in times
of community crisis.
• Recruitment and community outreach that is slow will widen the disparity gaps with
communities of color that become more difficult to recoup from if not aggressively addressed.
• Growth in rental housing creates the concern of guardianship over properties between owners,
the SPPD, and other regulatory entities.

Recommendations:
• The Saint Paul Police Department must continue to adapt to a community growing in
population, diversity, and number of households. Level of service must be monitored closely and
growth in organizational competencies and numeric strength will be a continuing source of
concern for the SPPD.
• Recruitment and community outreach are being addressed at the SPPD and more will be
addressed in the Youth Outreach and Programming information in the Community Engagement
Division section of this study.
• Ensure that adequate programming is continuing with Crime Free Multi-Housing to address
guardianship of rental properties.
• Continue to have specialized Police Officers working on “problem properties” in conjunction
with the Department of Safety and Inspections and other city regulatory bodies that can affect
change from outside the enforcement scope of law enforcement.

25
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 1.2 – Office of the Chief

The following section will cover:

• Organization of the Office of the Chief

• Review of Inspections Unit
• Review of the Public Information Officer Unit.
• Description of the Internal Affairs Unit
• Description of the Office of the Assistant Chief of Police

The Chief’s Office has the following organizational structure shown in Figure 1.2 and Table 1.2 shows the
history of personnel assigned the unit from 2013-2019.

Figure 1.21 – Organizational Chart of the Office of the Chief

Chief of Police
(1)

Executive Officer to the Public Information Internal Affairs

Chief of Police Assistant Chief of Offier Office Manager
Police Commander
Senior Commander Sergeant (1) (1)
(1) (1)
(1) Civilian (1)

Chief Inspector Executive Officer Investigative Sergeants Office Assistant IV Office Assistant
(1) (1) (2) (1) (1)

Inspectors
Officers
(3)

26
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 1.21 - Office of the Chief Personnel 2013-2019

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Chief of Police 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Assistant Chief 3 3 3 1 1 1 1

Senior Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Civilian PIO 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Officers 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Office Manager 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Office Assistant 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Total Staff 18 18 18 16 16 16 16

Section 1.21 - Chief of Police

The Chief of Police functions as the chief executive officer of the Saint Paul Police Department and is
appointed to a six (6) year term by city charter. Chief of Police is assisted by an Office Manager and an Office
Assistant.

Section 1.22 - Inspections Unit

The Inspections Unit within the Chief’s Office is managed by the Executive Officer to the Chief of Police
(Senior Commander) and supervises the Chief Inspector (Sergeant) and is staffed by four (4) Officers;
three (3) assigned to the Office of the Chief and one (1) assigned as the personal security to the Mayor
of Saint Paul.

The goal of the Inspections Unit is to be an oversight and compliance function of the SPPD that directly
reports to the Chief of Police.

Data/Observations:

• The following are major areas of oversight and compliance done by the Inspections Unit:
o Accounting for all money that is taken in by the SPPD.

27
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

▪ All money brought in through the Property Room is accounted for, determined
if it must stay in property due to evidentiary value, and all other funds are
deposited in a bank by Inspections.
▪ Property Room money vault quarterly audit.
▪ Review of the chain of custody of money for past year.
▪ Audits of buy-funds money for investigative units.
o Narcotics Evidence: audit custody chains for all drugs seized by the SPPD and do
quarterly destruction through a certified incinerator.
o Gun Evidence: audit custody chains for all gun seizures by the SPPD and regular
destruction of guns at off-site metal reduction plant. No seized guns are re-sold by the
SPPD.
o Internal auditing of SPPD equipment.
o Managing over 800 parking placards for all city agencies issued by the SPPD.
o Write daily Mayor’s and City Council reports on SPPD activity.
o Write daily report to the Chief distributed to all senior administrators.
o Schedule all special events (Allianz Field, CHS Field, Xcel Center, Twin Cities Marathon,
etc.) with overtime details.
o Track all off-duty employment and audits of off-duty locations.
o Manage all on-site parking operations for the SPPD.
o Perform unit inspections across the agency.
o Receives all employee court subpoenas and monitors compliance with court
appearance.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Oversight of organizational functions is critical to the legitimacy of the Chief and the SPPD.
Recruiting and retaining excellent staff committed to a culture of accountability is essential for
any employee working in this unit.
• Continual process improvement should be constantly encouraged within this unit and to other
units within the agency from Inspections staff.
• The accountability chains for money and evidence that is audited by the Inspections Unit
touches some of the highest liability areas of the SPPD.

Recommendations:

• Continue with the current level of Inspections staff.

• Consider having the Inspections staff provide training sessions and templates for unit
commanders to pre-inspect their units to make sure that they are complying with all areas that
may be examined for a unit inspection.

28
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 1.23 - Public Information Officer

Public Information Officers (PIO) consist of one (1) Police Sergeant and one civilian Communication
Specialist. They are a direct report to the Chief of Police with nominal reporting responsibilities to the
Assistant Chief of Police. The current configuration of staff began approximately ten (10) years ago with
different personnel in each position.

Data/Observations:

• The following are major responsibilities of the Public Information Officers for the SPPD:
o Data Practices
o Crisis communications
o Social media management
o Proactive media management
o Next Door communication
o Facebook management
o Publications
▪ Annual Report
▪ Short form reports
o Internal communication
o Talking points for command staff
o Video production
• Each PIO brings different strengths from either private sector knowledge or law enforcement
experience.
• The unit deals with a 24-hour news cycle and both PIO’s are subject to 24-hour call out for
breaking news issues from criminal acts to public safety messaging.
• Average daily media workload is thirty to forty (30-40) requests.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Public messaging needs to be done accurately and timely due to the nature of public safety.
• Public information officers must continue to provide their quick response to news media
requests to provide accurate information for transparency; otherwise, slow response may cause
distorted narratives to appear as valid information.
• Lack of timely fulfillment of data practices requests can be a source of litigation for a public
agency.
• Inconsistent management of all media platforms maintained by the SPPD can lead to a lack of
public trust of a public agency.

29
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Recommendations:

• Continue to maintain the mix of civilian and sworn PIO’s.

• Work on increasing the level of video-based information sharing; seen as a modern “best
practice” in social media connection with an audience.
• Add one (1) civilian PIO who participates in a “three-deep” principle for staffing the 24/7 nature
of these positions; and to build the competency and ability to deliver on current and emerging
communication platforms.

Section 1.24 – Internal Affairs

The Internal Affairs Unit is led by one (1) Commander who supervises two (2) Investigative Sergeants
and one (1) Office Assistant. The Internal Affairs Commander is a direct report to the Senior
Commander/Executive Officer to the Chief of Police. A brief confidential overview was done of this unit.
Staffing of this unit is sufficient at this time and no further analysis will be covered in this document due
to the confidential nature of the unit work.

Section 1.25 - Assistant Chief of Police

The Assistant Chief of Police serves as the chief operating officer of the SPPD. The Assistant Chief has
direct reporting from one (1) Executive Officer (Sergeant), one (1) Office Assistant, and four (4) Deputy
Chiefs. Staffing of this unit is sufficient at this time.

Assistant Chief of Police

(1)

Executive Officer to the

Assistant Chief o Police Deputy Chiefs Secretary Police Accounting
Sergeant (4) (1) Civilian (3)
(1)

30
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 1.26 - Police Accounting Unit

The Police Accounting Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 1.26;

• A current personnel table is shown in Table 1.26;

The Accounting Supervisor reports to the Assistant Chief of Police. This unit performs the accounting of
a budget of over $100 million.

Figure 1.26 – Police Accounting Unit

Accounting
Supervisor
Accountant IV
(1)

Accountant I Account Clerk II

(1) (1)

Table 1.26

Personnel Type 2019

Accountant IV 1

Accountant I 1

Account Clerk II 1

Total Staff 3

This unit has sufficient staffing and not reviewed further for this study.

31
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 2.0 Patrol District Operations

The following section will cover:

• Patrol District staffing levels

• Part I Crimes in Saint Paul
• Calls for Service for data Patrol Operations
• Queue-Time data for Calls for Service
• Response Time data for Calls for Service
• Volume and nature of Calls for Service for Patrol Operations
• Risk Management & Recommendations

The Saint Paul Police Department has three Patrol Districts that operate in parallel to one another to
provide service to three distinct areas within the City of Saint Paul. Each patrol district has the following
basic structure:

Figure 2.01 Patrol District Organizational Chart

Senior Commander

Commander Commander
Patrol Investigations

Sergeants Sergeant Sergeants

Patrol Administrative/Patrol Investigations

Officers Officers
Patrol Code Enforcement

32
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 2.01 – Patrol District Personnel Levels 2019

Personnel Type Western Central Eastern

Senior Commander 1 1 1
Patrol Commander 1 2 1
Investigative Commander 1 1 1
Administrative Sergeants 1 1 1
Patrol Sergeants 9 11 9
Investigative Sergeants 3 2 2
Patrol Officers 82 91 85
Code Enforcement Officers 2 2 2
Office Assistant 1 1 1
Total Staff 101 112 103

The 3 districts have the naming conventions of Eastern District, Central District, and Western District
and are depicted on the below grid maps:

Western District Central District Eastern District

3

33
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

One of the core functions that has been identified in this study is Patrol Operations. This service runs on
a 24-hour clock, 7 days per week and is comprised of just under half the sworn strength of the SPPD.
The number of sworn personnel in the SPPD has grown in authorized strength over the last 22 years
from 569 sworn staff in 1997 to the current number of 635 in 2019. This is a 11.6% increase in
authorized staff or 66 sworn staff over this 22-year period. While this historical number has some
relevance, this study focuses on more recent historic information that dates from 2013 to 2019.

Not all information in this study will cover 2013-2019; some parts will exclude 2013 data due to
concerns about data accuracy and 2019 will be excluded in some cases due to the year being in-
progress.

Below in section 2.1 is a snapshot of call and crime data that Patrol Operations provides services for on
an annualized basis from 2014-2018.

2.1 2014-2018 Citywide Calls for Service and Crime Data (3) Charts (11)
Tables 2.1 – 2.13 show a general snapshot of the types of calls, crimes and neighborhood statistics that
Patrol Operations serves in the City of Saint Paul.

Table 2.1

34
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 2.12

35
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 2.13

36
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

2.2 Patrol District Operations – Sworn Staff Census

Table 2.21 is a chart that shows authorized versus actual strength of the SPPD from 2013-2019.
Authorized strength has grown by 4.1% or by twenty-five (25) sworn officers during this six (6)-year
period.

Entire Sworn Personnel Census of Saint Paul Police Department from 2013-2019

Table 2.21

Year Authorized Strength Actual Strength

2013 610 612

2014 615 614

2015 615 614

2016 615 620

2017 620 624

2018 626 625

2019 635 622**

Authorized and actual strength numbers are end of year calculations from Human Resources; **2019 statistic is taken from a mid-year census.

37
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Patrol Division Staff by Patrol District from 2013-2019 at Bid

Table 2.22 shows the history of the number of Patrol Officers assigned to Patrol Operations by patrol
district at the time of “bid” in January of each year. These Patrol Officers are part of the overall census
of staff listed in Table 2.21.

Table 2.22

Year Eastern Central Downtown Western Total Patrol % Staff

District District Beat District Staff Allocated
to Patrol

2013 69 67 13 79 228 37%

2014 85 73 12 84 254 41%

2015 83 70 18 82 253 41%

2016 90 71 17 91 269 43%

2017 85 66 18 85 254 41%

2018 83 66 23 84 256 41%

2019 85 68 23 82 258 41%

*Table 2.22 census numbers contain only full-duty Police Officer rank employees able to work in patrol operations; not included are any light
duty, leave of absence, or otherwise assigned to the districts but detailed to another assignment. Data for DTB may not be fully accurate for
2013-2015. Full data for these years is difficult to determine from existing SPPD information. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole
number.

38
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Patrol Division Staff by Patrol District from 2013-2019 at End of Year

Table 2.23 shows the history of the number of Patrol Officers assigned to Patrol Operations by patrol
district at the end of the last pay period (December) of each year.

Table 2.23

Year Eastern Central Downtown Western Total Patrol % Staff

District District Beat District Staff Allocated
to Patrol

2013 76 75 12 83 246 40%

2014 79 68 12 82 241 39%

2015 84 67 18 80 249 41%

2016 84 71 13 82 250 40%

2017 85 65 18 84 252 40%

2018 87 68 23 79 257 41%

2019 NA NA NA NA NA NA
*Table 2.23 census numbers contain only full-duty Police Officer rank employees able to work in patrol operations; not included are any light
duty, leave of absence, or otherwise assigned to the districts but detailed to another assignment. Data for DTB may not be fully accurate for
2013-2015. Full data for these years is difficult to determine from existing SPPD information. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole
number.

39
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Patrol Division Comparison of Patrol Districts from Bid to End of Year 2013-2019
Table 2.24 shows the history of the number of Patrol Officers assigned to Patrol Operations by patrol
district at the “bid” in January and the number of Patrol Officers assigned in the last pay period
(December) of each year and then provides a percentage change in staffing that occurred. This does not
preclude other fluctuations in staffing numbers that happened between January and December each
year due to retirements, resignations, or people returning from an on-leave status.

Table 2.24

Year Eastern District Central District Downtown Beat Western District Total Patrol Staff
2013 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

69 76 +10.14% 67 75 +11.94% 13 12 -7.69% 79 83 +5.06% 228 246 +7.89%

2014 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

85 79 -7.06% 73 68 -6.85% 12 12 0.0% 84 82 -2.38% 254 241 -5.12%

2015 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

83 84 +1.2% 70 67 -4.29% 18 18 0.0% 82 80 -2.44% 253 249 -1.58%

2016 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

90 84 -6.67% 71 71 0.0% 17 13 -23.53% 91 82 -9.89% 269 250 -7.06%

2017 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

85 85 0.0% 66 65 -1.52% 18 18 0.0% 85 84 -1.18% 254 252 -0.79%

2018 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

83 87 +4.82% 66 68 +3.03 23 23 0.0% 84 79 -5.95% 256 257 +0.39%

2019 Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-) Bid End % (+/-)
Change Change Change Change Change

85 NA NA 68 NA NA 23 NA NA 82 NA NA 258 NA NA

40
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Current Uniformed Service Police Officers in the Community

In addition to the above section listing Patrol Districts, there are support units within SPPD that have a
uniformed service presence in the city. These units provide services requested by the community and
most activities performed by these units are self-initiated and/or not documented in Computer Aided
Dispatch (CAD) data. Uniformed Officers in these units, most often, respond to Calls for Service as
secondary units on a regular basis and this is reflected within the data in Table 2.49(2) Total Number of
Officers Responding to Calls for Service by Priority Type 2016-2018.

Table 2.25 lists 2019 data about these units (Canine, FORCE, COAST, ACOP, SRO, and Traffic) and
aggregates this data with the Patrol Districts to show the number of Police Officer rank sworn staff in
uniformed services in the community.

Table 2.25 2019 Uniformed Police Officer Rank Staff in Patrol Districts/Support Units
Division Unit Officers 2019 Section # of Study

Patrol Operations East Patrol 85 Section 2.0

Patrol Operations Central Patrol 68 Section 2.0

Patrol Operations West Patrol 82 Section 2.0

Patrol Operations DTB 23 Section 2.0

Patrol Operations Canine 18 Section 5.5

Patrol Operations FORCE 9 Section 5.3

Community Engagement COAST 7 Section 10.5

Community Engagement ACOP 9 Section 10.2

Community Engagement SRO 8 Section 10.2

Community Engagement Traffic 10 Section 10.4

Total Officers in Uniformed 319

Services

All Police Officer Rank in Dept. Wide 399

Department

% of Department at Police Officer Dept. Wide 80%

Rank in Uniformed Services

Below is the Data/Observations summary for staffing levels for sworn officers from 2013 to the
beginning of 2019; and the breakdown of staffing for the Police Officer rank in the patrol
districts from 2013 to the beginning of 2019.

41
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations – Section 2.2

• Total sworn staff increased by 2.12% between 2013-2018.
• Patrol staffing increased by 4.47% between 2013-2018 using end of year census.
• With the growth in SPPD staff, the number of patrol officers has consistently remained around
41% of the entire sworn staff level of the SPPD.
• The number of Officers working in the Patrol Division was lowest in 2013 at 37% of sworn
officers and moved to around 41% for most years through 2018.
• Downtown Beat (DTB) accounted for 30% of the increase in sworn staff assigned to Patrol
Operations; but does not have a significant effect on the Patrol Division’s regular work due to
different work schedule and different type of work done by DTB. Therefore, it is not a significant
investment towards regular patrol operations.
• 80% of the total number of sworn staff at the Police Officer rank work in uniformed services for
the SPPD.

42
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 2.3 Patrol District Operations – Calls for Service Data

Table 2.31 shows 911 Calls for Service between 2013-2018; and Table 2.33 shows all Calls for Service
(including 911 Calls) from 2013-2018. The 911 Calls and all-Calls for Service (CFS) statistics are
particularly important to any police agency due to the nature of these classifications of service to the
community. These represent incidents where police officers are directed to provide service at a location
by the dispatch center, and per policy, have no control over the intake and assignment of the work.

When people call the dispatch center, and a Call for Service (CFS) is generated, an Officer will be
dispatched and sent to respond to the CFS. No officer discretion is available as to their deployment for
these events. This is an agreed upon protocol between the Ramsey County Emergency Communication
Center and SPPD.

Tables 2.31 – 2.49(7) are analyzed in the Data/Observations, Risk Management Considerations, and
Recommendations at the end of Section 2.4.

911 Calls for Service 2013-2018 (23) (24)(30)

Table 2.31
911 Calls: Includes only those calls that come in via 911 and are not non-emergency or cancelled calls.
Patrol 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
District

Eastern 19,154 20,489 23,142 24,764 24,847 23,813

Central 14,040 16,183 19,722 20,610 21,429 21,695

Western 19,631 20,746 23,370 25,097 24,928 25,321

Citywide 53,825 57,418 66,234 70,471 71,746 70,829

*2013-2015 data may be in error by less than 1%.

Figure 2.31

SPPD 911 Calls 2013-2018

80000

60000

40000

20000

0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

East Central West Citywide

43
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

911 Calls for Service: Increases Between 2013-2018

Table 2.32

Patrol District Number of Increased in 911 Calls (2013-2018) % Increase in 911 Calls

Eastern + 4,167 + 24.32%

Central + 7,655 + 54.52%

Western + 4,182 + 29.98%

Citywide + 17,004 + 31.59%

All Calls for Service by District (including 911 Calls) 2013-2018 (23) (24)
Table 2.33
Total Calls: Includes all calls that are not cancelled, including investigative and proactive calls. Includes Officer generated calls, 911 calls, and
non-emergency calls. Totals do not include police officer off-duty employment calls.
Patrol 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
District

Eastern 79,670 79,784 78,404 74,409 80,509 79,696

Central 77,322 71,750 77,702 77,370 89,641 91,760

Western 85,846 84,675 88,661 88,264 99,807 95,739

Total 242,838 236,209 244,767 240,043 269,957 267,195

*2013-2015 data may be in error by less than 1%.

44
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 2.33

SPPD All Calls for Service

2013-2018
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

East Dist. Central Dist. West Dist. Citywide

Calls for Service Increases Between 2013-2018 (22) (23) (24)

Table 2.34

Patrol District Number of Increased in all Calls for Service % Increase in 911 Calls
(including 911 Calls)

(2013-2018)

Eastern + 26 + 00.03%

Central + 14,438 + 18.67%

Western + 9,893 + 8.47%

Citywide + 24,357 + 10.03%

45
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 2.4 - Patrol District Operations: Queue Time & Response Data, Calls for
Service Data, and Averages for Calls for Service
The following data describes information about how long people must wait on average for the SPPD to
begin to respond to a call for service (Queue Time), the travel time to a call for service (Response Time),
the gross volume of calls, and averages pertaining to calls for service. This information can help
illuminate the level of activity experienced by officers and provide insight as to the level of service the
SPPD is able to provide at different staffing levels.

*Note: 2013-2015 Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) data was eliminated from Section 2.4 due to
inconsistencies found in CAD data. In 2015, a new CAD system was implemented and full-years of
accurate/searchable time and call category data are available for 2016-2018 and found in the data
tables of Section 2.4.

First, is a listing of the Priority Classifications for all Calls for Service; they are placed into five (5)
separate classifications of priority to be dispatched:

Priority 1: (Queue Time = Immediate dispatch) Officer down, injured, or needs immediate assistance in
a critical situation.
Priority 2: (Queue Time = within 30 seconds) Any crime in progress; Activity which indicates a crime is
about to be committed or has just been committed where suspects are in the area; Any matter which
the caller reasonably indicates is of an urgent matter; Intrusion or robbery alarm; Any matter involving
serious personal injury or imminent threat of serious injury; Emergency assistance required by the fire
SPPD (not DOAs); Physical domestics.
Priority 2A: (Queue Time = Officer Driven) Any crime in progress initiated by the officer

Priority 3: (Queue Time = 15 minutes) Domestics, neighbor trouble, etc., where no threat of personal
safety exists; Suspicious people, vehicles, window peepers, prowlers, trespassers, exposers, etc.; Traffic
crashes, no personal injury; Assist the fire SPPD with a DOA; Fights, mutual affrays, without weapons;
Assist any agency not amounting to priority 1 or priority 2; Report of a citizen holding a suspect not
amounting to a priority 1 or 2, does not include shoplifters.

Priority 4: (Queue Time = 60 minutes) Offense reports where no suspect is present and no personal
threat exists; Assist citizen in non-emergency matter; Shoplifters being held by store security personnel;
Drunks, emotionally disturbed persons, disorderly persons, not threatening physical harm.

Priority 5: (Queue Time = 75 minutes) Miscellaneous request for service, Barking dogs, Loud party, Loud
radios, etc., Parking complaints.

46
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Focus on Priority 2 Calls

Average Queue Times 2016-2018

Table 2.41 (30)

Average Queue Time: Times reflect averages for each call priority type, by year and by Police District. Queue time is calculated based on time from when a call is
received by the 911 center to when a squad is sent. Includes 911 calls, non-emergency calls, and alarm response calls. Excludes all Officer generated calls.

Queue Times 2016 2017 2018

West

Priority 2 0:02:25 0:02:47 0:02:40

Priority 3 0:12:43 0:11:58 0:10:25

Priority 4 0:24:46 0:22:35 0:20:09

Priority 5 0:46:37 0:52:12 0:38:24

Priority 2A 0:05:25 0:08:12 0:03:01

Central

Priority 2 0:02:34 0:02:54 0:02:27

Priority 3 0:13:52 0:13:36 0:11:27

Priority 4 0:22:43 0:23:25 0:20:12

Priority 5 0:40:20 0:45:31 0:37:47

Priority 2A 0:02:00 0:02:22 0:02:38

East

Priority 2 0:02:26 0:03:12 0:02:32

Priority 3 0:13:28 0:13:24 0:10:56

Priority 4 0:27:36 0:28:47 0:22:48

Priority 5 0:56:38 1:01:10 0:41:59

Priority 2A 0:03:09 0:01:44 0:02:42

City Total

Priority 2 0:02:28 0:02:57 0:02:33

Priority 3 0:13:21 0:12:59 0:10:56

Priority 4 0:25:02 0:24:56 0:21:03

Priority 5 0:47:52 0:52:58 0:39:23

Priority 2A 0:03:31 0:04:06 0:02:47

47
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Response Time by Priority Type 2016-2018

Table 2.42 (30)

Average Response Time: Times reflect averages for each call priority type, by year and by Police District. Response time is calculated based on
time the initial squad was sent to the time a squad arrives on scene. This total does not reflect any time a caller spends in the 911 queue.
Includes 911 calls, non-emergency calls, and alarm response calls. Excludes all Officer generated calls.

Response Times 2016 2017 2018

West

Priority 2 0:06:48 0:05:52 0:05:53

Priority 3 0:08:35 0:07:56 0:08:23

Priority 4 0:09:52 0:09:27 0:09:54

Priority 5 0:15:36 0:16:09 0:15:22

Priority 2A 0:03:33 0:05:35 0:03:07

Central

Priority 2 0:06:35 0:05:45 0:06:06

Priority 3 0:08:10 0:07:34 0:08:20

Priority 4 0:09:19 0:08:45 0:09:25

Priority 5 0:13:03 0:14:36 0:15:03

Priority 2A 0:02:01 0:01:16 0:01:58

East

Priority 2 0:05:42 0:05:12 0:05:25

Priority 3 0:07:03 0:06:51 0:07:23

Priority 4 0:08:47 0:08:16 0:08:59

Priority 5 0:14:07 0:14:30 0:13:28

Priority 2A 0:02:57 0:00:54 0:00:33

City Total

Priority 2 0:06:22 0:05:36 0:05:48

Priority 3 0:07:56 0:07:27 0:08:02

Priority 4 0:09:19 0:08:49 0:09:26

Priority 5 0:14:15 0:15:05 0:14:37

Priority 2A 0:02:50 0:02:35 0:01:53

48
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Combined Queue and Response Time 2016-2018

Table 2.43 (30)

Average Combined Queue & Response Time: Times reflect averages for each call priority type, by year and by Police District. Combined queue
and response time is calculated based on time from when a call is received by the 911 center to when a squad arrives on scene. Includes 911
calls, non-emergency calls, and alarm response calls. Excludes all Officer generated calls.

Queue & Response Times 2016 2017 2018

West

Priority 2 0:09:13 0:08:39 0:08:33

Priority 3 0:21:19 0:19:54 0:18:48

Priority 4 0:34:38 0:32:03 0:30:03

Priority 5 1:02:13 1:08:21 0:53:46

Priority 2A 0:08:57 0:13:47 0:06:08

Central

Priority 2 0:09:09 0:08:39 0:08:33

Priority 3 0:22:02 0:21:10 0:19:47

Priority 4 0:32:02 0:32:10 0:29:37

Priority 5 0:53:23 1:00:07 0:52:50

Priority 2A 0:04:01 0:03:38 0:04:37

East

Priority 2 0:08:08 0:08:24 0:07:57

Priority 3 0:20:32 0:20:15 0:18:19

Priority 4 0:36:22 0:37:03 0:31:47

Priority 5 1:10:45 1:15:40 0:55:27

Priority 2A 0:06:06 0:02:38 0:03:14

City Total

Priority 2 0:08:50 0:08:34 0:08:21

Priority 3 0:21:17 0:20:26 0:18:58

Priority 4 0:34:21 0:33:45 0:30:29

Priority 5 1:02:07 1:08:03 0:54:01

Priority 2A 0:06:21 0:06:41 0:04:40

49
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Total Calls Per Day 2016-2018 (total # of calls for a day of the week for the year by patrol district)

Table 2.44 (30)

Total Calls per Day: Includes all calls that are not cancelled, including investigative and proactive calls. Includes Officer generated calls, 911
calls, and non-emergency calls. Total does not include police officer off-duty employment calls. Reflects all calls for a given weekday over the
course of the year.

Calls per Day 2016 2017 2018

WEST

SUNDAY 10607 12398 10963

MONDAY 12610 13664 13725

TUESDAY 13360 15030 14698

WEDNESDAY 13597 15454 14628

THURSDAY 12889 15245 15007

FRIDAY 13033 14734 14072

SATURDAY 12168 13282 12646

CENTRAL

SUNDAY 8835 10169 10083

MONDAY 11178 12075 13086

TUESDAY 11694 13668 13738

WEDNESDAY 12241 14870 15229

THURSDAY 11614 13767 14097

FRIDAY 11375 13290 13685

SATURDAY 10433 11802 11842

EAST

SUNDAY 9405 9957 9793

MONDAY 10860 11466 11513

TUESDAY 10876 12060 12098

WEDNESDAY 11011 11921 12195

THURSDAY 10712 11926 11825

FRIDAY 11018 11995 11916

SATURDAY 10527 11184 10356

CITY

SUNDAY 28847 32524 30839

MONDAY 34648 37205 38324

TUESDAY 35930 40758 40534

WEDNESDAY 36849 42245 42052

THURSDAY 35215 40938 40929

FRIDAY 35426 40019 39673

SATURDAY 33128 36268 34844

50
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Total 911 Calls Per Day 2016-2018 (total # of 911 calls for a day of the week for the year by patrol
district)

Table 2.45 (30)

911 Calls per Day: Includes only those calls that come in via 911 and are not non-emergency or cancelled calls. Reflects all 911 calls for a given
weekday over the course of the year.

911 calls per day 2016 2017 2018

WEST

SUNDAY 3515 3484 3502

MONDAY 3523 3382 3547

TUESDAY 3460 3437 3479

WEDNESDAY 3490 3480 3570

THURSDAY 3454 3466 3643

FRIDAY 3823 3756 3756

SATURDAY 3832 3923 3824

CENTRAL

SUNDAY 2954 3035 3051

MONDAY 2923 2861 3107

TUESDAY 2786 3005 2958

WEDNESDAY 2829 3026 3039

THURSDAY 2792 3021 3068

FRIDAY 3066 3177 3178

SATURDAY 3260 3304 3294

EAST

SUNDAY 3727 3615 3548

MONDAY 3508 3461 3350

TUESDAY 3363 3409 3185

WEDNESDAY 3343 3340 3351

THURSDAY 3360 3270 3252

FRIDAY 3550 3768 3391

SATURDAY 3913 3984 3736

CITY

SUNDAY 10196 10134 10101

MONDAY 9954 9704 10004

TUESDAY 9609 9851 9622

WEDNESDAY 9662 9846 9960

THURSDAY 9606 9757 9963

FRIDAY 10439 10701 10325

SATURDAY 11005 11211 10854

51
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average 911 Calls Per Year Per Patrol Officer 2016-2018

Table 2.46 (30)
Average 911 Calls per year per Patrol Officer: Includes only those calls that come in via 911 and are not non-emergency or cancelled calls. *Note
– this is not a reflection of all calls that an Officer may respond to each year, but rather a measurement of total Patrol Officers assigned per
District and the 911 call volume within that District

Avg 911 Calls per Patrol

Officer 2016 2017 2018

WEST 275.8 293.3 301.4

CENTRAL 231.6 258.2 243.8

EAST 275.2 292.3 286.9

City 261.0 281.4 276.7

Average Calls Per Year Per Patrol Officer 2016-2018

Table 2.47 (30)
Average Calls per year per Patrol Officer: Includes all calls that are not cancelled, including investigative and proactive calls. Totals do not
include police officer off-duty employment calls. *Note – this is not a reflection of all calls that an Officer may respond to each year, but rather
a measurement of total Patrol Officers assigned per District and the call volume within that District.

Avg Calls per Officer 2016 2017 2018

WEST 969.6 1174.2 1139.8

CENTRAL 869.3 1080.0 1031.0

EAST 826.8 947.2 960.2

Citywide 889.0 1067.0 1043.7

52
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Officer Generated/Self-Initiated Calls for Service 2016-2018

Table 2.48 (1) (30)
Officer Generated Calls: Includes all Officer generated calls that are not cancelled.

Officer Generated Calls 2016 2017 2018

West 32522 43278 38518

Central 33329 43087 46900

East 24723 29140 31249

Total 90574 115505 116667

Percentage of Officer Generated/Self-Initiated Calls for Service 2016-2018

Table 2.48 (2) (30)

Percentage of Officer Generated Calls: Includes all calls initiated by Officers that are not cancelled compared to the total calls.

% Officer Generated Call of Total Calls 2016 2017 2018

West 36.8% 43.4% 40.2%

Central 43.1% 48.1% 51.1%

East 33.2% 36.2% 39.2%

Total 37.7% 42.8% 43.7%

53
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Total Number of Calls by Priority Type 2014-2018

Table 2.49 (30)

Total Calls by Priority: Includes all calls that are not cancelled, including investigative and proactive calls. Includes Officer generated calls, 911
calls, and non-emergency calls. Totals do not include Officer off-duty employment calls.

Total Calls 2016 2017 2018

West

Priority 2 7198 4908 4943

Priority 3 19006 21658 21033

Priority 4 28643 29354 29104

Priority 5 17717 26675 26594

Priority 2A 15668 17261 14096

Central

Priority 2 6044 5241 4930

Priority 3 15078 17208 16483

Priority 4 24348 26447 25579

Priority 5 15118 23464 31297

Priority 2A 16745 17327 13527

East

Priority 2 6337 5003 4743

Priority 3 17553 19933 18001

Priority 4 24739 25361 23678

Priority 5 11223 14435 14597

Priority 2A 14569 15815 18751

All City

Priority 2 19579 15152 14616

Priority 3 51637 58799 55517

Priority 4 77730 81162 78361

Priority 5 44058 64574 72488

Priority 2A 46982 50403 46374

54
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Officer Minutes Per Priority Call Type 2014-2018

Table 2.49(1a) (30)
Average officer minutes per Priority type: Includes all calls that are not cancelled from time arrived to time cleared. Includes all officers arriving,
not just the first officers to arrive on scene. Time on scene is measured from time arrived to time cleared. Excludes off-duty calls. Time is given
in minutes.

Average Officer Time on Scene by Priority

District, Priority 2016 2017 2018

West

West, 2 46.7 45.5 46.7

West, 3 32.6 29.2 29.2

West, 4 37.0 34.2 32.7

West, 5 39.5 25.1 27.6

West, 2A 16.9 16.9 18.4

Central

Central, 2 52.3 47.1 47.7

Central, 3 37.0 31.9 32.8

Central, 4 37.0 34.6 36.7

Central, 5 36.2 31.5 32.2

Central, 2A 19.6 19.7 21.1

East

East, 2 45.0 54.0 52.3

East, 3 31.7 28.4 31.5

East, 4 32.9 34.3 33.7

East, 5 27.9 26.5 25.9

East, 2A 24.1 22.4 21.6

City

City Average, 2 48.0 48.9 48.9

City Average, 3 33.8 29.8 31.1

City Average, 4 35.6 34.4 34.4

City Average, 5 34.5 27.7 28.6

City Average, 2A 20.2 19.6 20.4

55
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Time Spent Per Call for All Calls for Service (CFS) 2016-2018 (24)
Table 2.49(1b)
Includes all calls that are not cancelled, including investigative and proactive calls. Totals do not include police officer off-duty employment
calls.

Avg Time Spent Per CFS

(in minutes) 2016 2017 2018

WEST 36.71 27.68 29.14

CENTRAL 33.14 30.48 32.43

EAST 30.42 30.26 30.09

Citywide 33.42 29.4 30.52

56
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Total Number of Officers Responding to Calls for Service by Priority Type 2016-2018
Table 2.49(2) (30)
Total Officers responding by Priority type: Includes all calls that are not cancelled. Excludes off-duty calls. Includes all officers arriving, not just
the first officers to arrive on scene.

Total Officers Responding by Priority

District, Priority 2016 2017 2018

West, 2 23137 18621 18397

West, 3 43900 52725 51655

West, 4 50048 51270 51028

West, 5 24702 36880 37172

West, 2A 22710 26953 23243

Central, 2 19763 17871 16798

Central, 3 35976 41793 40646

Central, 4 44143 47788 48056

Central, 5 19762 31986 43116

Central, 2A 25320 26502 23280

East, 2 22873 20621 19636

East, 3 42850 49489 46726

East, 4 46962 46976 46349

East, 5 16928 21583 21980

East, 2A 27597 29777 38364

City All, 2 65773 57113 54831

City All, 3 122726 144007 139027

City All, 4 141153 146034 145433

City All, 5 61392 90449 102268

City All, 2A 75627 83232 84887

City Sum Total 466671 520835 526446

57
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Community Engagement In-Service Visits by Patrol Districts – All Officers in Events in CAD
2016-2018
Table 2.49(3a) (30)
Includes all non-cancelled calls that are coded specifically as Community Engagement. Includes all officers arriving, not just the first officers to
arrive on scene.

Total Officers on Scene Community Engagement Only

District 2016 2017 2018

West 344 1520 1117

Central 535 743 928

East 531 1035 973

City Total 1410 3298 3018

Community Engagement In-Service Visits by Patrol Districts – Number of Events Only in CAD
2016-2018
Table 2.49(3b) (30)
Community Engagement: Includes all non-cancelled calls that are Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Only 2016 2017 2018

West 216 1020 760

Central 405 491 533

East 302 577 637

Total 923 2088 1930

58
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Community Engagement Time On-Scene 2015-2018

Table 2.49(4) (30)
Includes all non-cancelled calls that are coded specifically as Community Engagement. Includes all officers arriving, not just the first officers to
arrive on scene. Time on scene is measured from time arrived to time cleared. Time is given in minutes.

Average Officer Time on Scene Community Engagement

Only

District 2016 2017 2018

West 109.7 70.8 83.8

Central 66.7 73.0 69.1

East 53.1 48.3 57.3

City Average 76.5 64.1 70.1

Total Officer Proactive Police Visits – All Officers at Events in CAD 2016-2018
Table 2.49(5) (30)
Table 2.49 (5) Includes all non-cancelled calls that are coded specifically as Proactive Police Visit. Includes all officers arriving, not just the first
officers to arrive on scene. Table 2.49(5a) includes

Proactive Police Visits: Includes all non-cancelled calls that are Proactive Police Visits.

Total Officers on Scene PPV Only

District 2016 2017 2018

West 12747 22730 14096

Central 9547 17638 20619

East 6602 9780 8842

City Total 28896 50148 43557

59
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Total Proactive Police Visits – Number of Events Only in CAD

Table 2.49(5a) (30)

PPV Only 2016 2017 2018

West 9300 16541 10270

Central 7613 13145 15417

East 4291 6431 5705

Total 21204 36117 31392

Average Time Spent On-Scene for Proactive Police Visits 2014-2018

Table 2.49(6) (30)
Includes all non-cancelled calls that are coded specifically as Proactive Police Visit. Includes all officers arriving, not just the first officers to
arrive on scene. Time on scene is measured from time arrived to time cleared. Time is given in minutes.

Average Officer Time On-Scene PPV Only

District 2016 2017 2018

West 20.6 46.1 20.2

Central 22.9 31.3 13.5

East 20.5 17.3 17.0

City Avg. 21.7 34.4 16.0

60
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Calls for Service Per Patrol Officer 2013-2018

Table 2.49(7)
Excludes canceled calls & off-duty employment. Includes Investigations & proactive calls. **Number of officers is only for full-duty police
officer able to work in patrol operations; not included are any light duty, leave of absence, or otherwise assigned to the districts but detailed to
another assignment.

Patrol 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

District Calls
for Service

Eastern 79,670 79,784 78,404 74,375 80,509 79, 676

Central 77,322 71,750 77,702 77,314 89,640 91,744

Western 85,846 84,675 88,661 88,237 99,806 95,725

Total 242,838 236,209 244,767 239,926 269,955 267,145

Total
Number of
228 254 253 269 254 256
Patrol
Officers

Average
Number of
Calls for
Service Per 1065 929 967 891 1062 1043
Patrol
Officer

Data/Observations:
• There is a 31.59% increase in 911 Calls for Service between 2013-2018; with the greatest
increase from 2013-2015. Each of these calls had police officers (often two or more) respond to
the scene.
• Between 2013-2018, there was a 10.03% increase in all Calls for Service for the entire city.
• Largest increase in Patrol District 911 Calls for Service was 54.52% in the Central District.
• Largest increase in Patrol District Total Calls for Service was 18.67% in the Central District.

61
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The average Priority 2 Queue-Time ranges between 2:28-2:57 minutes for Patrol Operations
(Table 2.41). This average Queue-Time was much higher than what is allowed per policy (less
than 30 second Queue-Time). This issue and solutions are explored in Section 3.
• Average Response times to Calls for Service for the entire city remained within a stable range of
variation from 2016-2018.
• The average 911 Calls Per Year Per Patrol Officer (Table 2.46) increased 6.1% from 2016-2018.
• The average number of Calls Per Year Per Officer increased 18.69% between 2016-2017; and
increased 16.09% overall between 2016-2018.
• Officer Generated/Self-Initiated Activity Per Officer increased 28.81% between 2016-2018.
• Average time on-scene at a Call for Service has remained near 30 minutes from 2016-2018.
• Total calls per day are consistently at higher volumes on Fridays and Saturdays from 2013-2018.
• The average number of calls per officer per year is trending upward, over 1000 calls per year
from 2016-2018.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The higher frequency of 911 calls indicates something about dynamics occurring within the city
that is affecting residents of Saint Paul, whether that is the proliferation of cell phones in society
that makes it easier to call 911 or other reasons, this is an area for further study.
• 911 calls often require officers to break from other activities where they are providing service
(negatively affecting the service they were providing) and quickly respond to incidents which
require emergency driving and placing officers into hazardous situations at a higher frequency.

Recommendations:
• Citywide calls for service have increased 10.03%. Average time at a call has remained near 30
minutes. Thus, indicating a trend where more time is being taken up with calls for service in a
day of work.
• More resources are needed in patrol operations to handle the volume (time and number of
calls) of work to provide a consistent level of service.
• A study of total officers on-scene at Calls for Service is likely needed. Table 2.49(2) reflects data
about the number of officers responding to a call for service and more investigation is needed
to see if those numbers are appropriate.
• A study of the reasons behind the higher number of incoming 911 calls to determine the
dynamics causing these increases.
• Comment: The increases in DTB staffing were appropriate in scope due to their historically low
levels of staffing.

62
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 3.0 - Staffing Levels for Patrol Operations Model

The following section will cover:

• Staffing levels for Patrol Districts

• Attrition rates/staff losses for Patrol Operations
• Human resource data used in calculating staff losses
• Proposal to mitigate long-term staff losses
• Evaluation and solution for Priority 2 timed-out Calls for Service

Section 3.1 – Sworn Staffing Levels

The Saint Paul Police Department’s Patrol Operations work a rotating schedule consisting of 10-hour
days in the following time frames:

Tour I 2200-0800 (Midnights)

Tour II 0700-1700 (Days)

Tour III 1600-2000 (Afternoons)

There are some minor variations to these schedules, but these are the primary shift configurations for
the agency.

The staffing model provides for the following staffing levels by Tour (for East and West Districts):

Tour Staffing Numbers (East and West Districts) (*This is a scheduling model – not current staffing numbers)
Table 3.1
Tour Officers Maximum Minimum Officer Loss % Officer Loss
Assigned to Officers Officers Factor Per Factor Per
Patrol Tours Assigned Per Required Per Tour Tour
Tour Tour

Tour I 21 12 8 4 33.33%

Tour II 33 19 13 6 31.58%

Tour III 37 21 13 8 38.10%

Total Staff 91 52 34 18 34.62%

*Total Staff Numbers reflect a 24-Hour Period **Loss factor % is calculated by dividing Officer Loss Factor Per Tour divided by
Maximum Officers Assigned Per Tour

63
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Tour Staffing Numbers (Central District) (*This is a scheduling model – not current staffing numbers)
Table 3.12
Tour Officers Maximum Minimum Officer Loss % Officer Loss
Assigned to Officers Officers Factor Per Factor Per
Patrol Tours Assigned Per Required Per Tour
Tour
Tour Tour

Tour I 21 12 8 4 33.33%

Tour II 25 14 10 4 28.57%

Tour III 30 17 11 6 35.29%

Total Staff 76 43 29 14 32.56%

*Total Staff Numbers reflect a 24-Hour Period

This staffing model allows for a 32-38% daily loss factor for all uses of time. This includes sick time,
vacation, military leave, training, etc.

Below in Table 3.13 are the actual staffing numbers for the January 2019 bid for the patrol districts; at
the far-right side of the table is the model staffing percentages.

Tour Staffing Numbers (East, West, and Central District)

Table 3.13
These are actual district numbers applied to the staffing model as of the bid in January 2019.

Districts at Bid Officers Maximum Minimum Officers Loss Officer Loss Model
2019 Assigned to Officers Officers Factor Per 24- Factor Per 24 Schedule
Patrol Tours Assigned Per Required Per Hour Day hour Day as a % Allowable
24-Hour Day 24-Hour Day 2019 Bid Loss Factor
2019 Bid 2019 Bid Per 24-
2019 Bid 2019 Bid Hour Day

Eastern 85 52 34 18 -21.17% -34.62%

Central 68 43 29 14 -20.5% -32.56%

West 82 52 34 18 -21.95% -34.62%

Citywide 235 147 97 50 -19.37% -34.01%

*DTB is not included in this 235 officer staffing total due to a different scheduling model used.

64
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Calculating Standard Human Resource Loss Factors

Below is a chart for the year 2018 showing the average time-off the schedule under different types of
Human Resource categories for patrol officers. Many categories are contractually obligated, and others
are elected by the Department for the professional development and skills of the officers. The data in
the right-side column showing the “average time used” is data from Police Human Resources for all 26
pay periods in 2018.

2018 Average Police Officer Time Off the Schedule in Patrol Operations
Table 3.14
Calculated as average time per police officer. These statistics do not include long term light duty positions.

Time Category Number of Hours

Bereavement 2.54

Comp Time Used 27.11

Leave No Pay 3.42

Paid Parental Leave 7.44

Military Leave-No Pay 18.79

Military Leave with Pay 8.05

Holiday Time 89.47

Injured on Duty 4.97

Sick Child 5.05

Sick Family 11.48

Sick Self 46.94

Vacation 173.37

Workers Comp 6.09

In-Service Training 40

Bomb & SWAT Training 12.88

Total Time 457.6

The calculation shows that in a 2,080 hour work year, the average officer is only working 1,622.4
hours in patrol operations. This constitutes a 22% loss factor of time for an average officer in the
patrol schedule.

65
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 3.15 demonstrates that the 2019 Bid number of 235 officers has placed each patrol district unable
to meet the 22% average officer loss factor per day.

2019 Bid Loss Factors Per District Versus Daily Human Resource Average of 22%
Table 3.15
Tour Average Officer Loss Remainder Number of
Human Factor Percent for Officers (FTE’s)
Resource Data Daily Officer In Remainder
2019 Bid
Officer Loss Loss Factor Daily Loss
Factor (from Table 3.3) Factor

Eastern -22% -21.17% -0.83% -0.70

Central -22% -20.5% -1.50% -1.23

Western -22% -21.95% -0.05% -0.04

Total Staff -22% -21.27% -0.73% -1.72

*This table reflects Human Resource Average Loss Factor against Loss Factors Computed in Table 3.3

Data/Observations:
• Using Table 3.15, the SPPD cannot currently meet the loss factor needs of our scheduling model.
• The loss factor does not happen evenly throughout the year. The 22% loss factor is an average.
Staff will call in sick in groups due to sickness going through a community or family.
• Training does not typically occur during weekends. Therefore, spikes in time-off needed during
333certain weekdays create pressure beyond any of the factors presented here.
• Police Officers who train for academies, train at in-service, or provide other specialized training
are not factored into this equation and no accurate record is kept at this time. However, the
Training Unit staff has told me that especially during recruit officer academies, there is a
significant “ask” to the districts for police officer trainers.
• When you factor into this equation that on average each district has 2-6 officers out of work on
long-term injury or disability, the loss factors begin to become even more pronounced.
• The SPPD’s 25-year-old model for Patrol Officer scheduling has good features and is popular
with officers when staffed properly.
• The demands of police officer time, training, special duties, etc. have changed since the
institution of this model of staffing due more Calls for Service, training requirements, need for
community engagement, employee leave laws, etc.

66
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Risk Management Considerations:

• With the current staffing model, loss factor margins are between 12.5 - 14.6% for a patrol shift
at full-staffing when human resource loss factors are included. These margins are near 0% - 2%
due to current staffing levels.
• With current actual staffing, the loss factor in the scheduling model does not work well.
• In periods of reduced staffing, the ability to give days-off to Patrol Officers seeking time-off
decreases and negatively affects the morale of officers.
• During periods of attrition, sudden loss factors (i.e., injured on duty, major illness) exacerbate
staffing problems.
• Low overall staffing levels, or often working at minimum staffing, creates officer safety concerns
amongst staff and extends queue times for service to the public.

Recommendations:
• Keep staffing levels in patrol district operations at full strength.
• Do not count light duty staff as part of the staffing complement.
• If light duty assignments are to be absorbed by the patrol districts, then higher levels of staff
should be employed (see following section 3.2 for Structural Staffing Reserve).
• The current scheduling system needs 258 officers assigned to West, Central, and East District
patrol operations (excluding DTB) to meet its own loss factor requirements.
• Staffing above 258 officers is likely needed to fulfill the requirements of the current scheduling
model to meet training and collateral duty obligations the SPPD needs to fulfill for its own
benefit.
• The scheduling model currently in use may have to be modified, or change altogether, to better
meet the needs of the SPPD and its employees.

67
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 3.2 – Proposal to Mitigate Long-Term Loss Factors in Personnel

Earlier in Section 3 this study addressed the personnel loss factors affecting the strength of Patrol
Operations. Loss factors presented in this study found average time loss from the schedule at 22% for
Patrol Officers. Intentionally excluded from the 22% loss factor number was the number of Patrol
Officers who are on light-duty or other long-term work leave. This was done to prevent skewing the loss
factors for Officers currently assigned and working in Patrol Operations.

Looking at the most recent statistics for long-term loss factor of sworn officers across the SPPD (August
2019), 38 sworn staff members on the SPPD roster were not present in the SPPD in a working capacity as
of August 2019 for reasons classified by Human Resources (e.g.; personal leave, parental leave, medical
leave, military deployment, etc.)

The employee roster at the time of this statistical snapshot was 608 sworn staff. Using this number, the
following personnel loss calculation applies:

608 – 38 = 570 Sworn Staff

6.25 % Loss Factor

If the SPPD were at full-strength for hiring, at 630 sworn staff, the loss factor would be:

630 * 6.25% = 39.375 (39) Sworn Staff

The 6.25% loss factor, or 38 sworn staff members, has a trickle-down effect throughout the
organization. Thus, leaving many units short of staff. These are not evenly portioned throughout the
agency but are placed where the loss can be least consequential for a given period. The loss is
somewhat chronic in Patrol Operations due to its size but moves around in investigative units as well
depending on where someone is assigned at the time of their “on-leave” or “long-term sick” status.
These long-term personnel losses place stress on operations and personnel.

Law enforcement operates 24/7 with certain expectations for service and responsiveness; personnel
losses place a great strain on remaining staff. The most effective remedy to this problem would be to
create a new sworn staff level calculation based on long-term loss factors. This study proposes to name
this the Structural Staff Reserve (SSR) above authorized strength.

This can be calculated each year by examining the average number of sworn staff on long-term leave
throughout the year (38 sworn in 2019) and then adding that number above the authorized strength of
the SPPD to make up the difference in sworn staff on long-term leave.

68
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Below is a mathematical representation of Structural Margin Above Authorized Strength (Structured

Margin) with some values provided:

Authorized Strength 630

Average Actual Hired 608

Average # on Long-Term Leave 38

Average Active Working Strength 570

SSR Equation:

(Average Actual Hired Strength) – (Average Actual Working Strength) = Average # on Long-Term Leave

608 – 570 = 38

The average of 38 employees on long-term leave in 2019 would become the Structural Staff Reserve
(SSR) added to the number of sworn staff the SPPD would be able to hire in 2020, as shown below:

Authorized Strength: 630

SSR: 38

Total Authorized Sworn: 668

Historically, the SPPD has not kept monthly running averages for Structural Staff Loss factors. In 2019,
the Assistant Chief of Police began tracking this formally and in future years, a monthly loss factor
should be available for data analysis. Table 3.21 shows the real staffing levels being tracked by SPPD
and the gap between the number of staff on payroll versus the number deployable as full-duty working
sworn staff.

69
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 3.21

The Structural Staffing Reserve (SSR) should change from year to year given the number of sworn staff
who are on long-term leave; thus, creating a yearly re-calculation of the SSR to manage long-term
vacancies. This upward departure based on long-term loss would place the organization in the
position of fully staffing its workforce model, ability to manage existing workloads, and increasing its
service to the community.

70
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 3.3 - Evaluating Solutions to Priority 2 through Priority 5 Timed Out Calls
(Queue Times)
The SPPD has significant delays in responding to high priority Calls for Service (CFS) that occur when all
Patrol Officers are committed to previous Calls for Service.

The allowable delay or Queue-Time for a Call for Service (CFS) is dependent on the type of CFS. The
more urgent the CFS, the less time the CFS is supposed wait “In-Queue” to be dispatched to an Officer
for response.

Queue-Time is defined by the following workflow:

1. Calls for Service (CFS) begin as phone calls to the dispatch center.
2. Calls are entered by dispatch center staff into Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)
3. Calls are placed into a pending call “Queue.”
4. Calls are then dispatched to an Officer for response. The Queue-Time is the time between when
a call is received and when it is dispatched.

Figure 3.31 - Workflow for Intake and Dispatching Calls for Service (CFS)

Dispatched to Officer for

Call to Dispatch Call Entered into CAD Queue-Time Waiting Period
Response

Priorities of Calls
Calls for Service are categorized into five (5) separate classifications of priority to be dispatched:

• Priority 1: (Queue Time = Immediate dispatch) Officer down, injured, or needs immediate
assistance in a critical situation.
• Priority 2: (Queue Time = within 30 seconds) Any crime in progress; Activity which indicates a
crime is about to be committed or has just been committed where suspects are in the area; Any
matter which the caller reasonably indicates is of an urgent matter; Intrusion or robbery alarm;
Any matter involving serious personal injury or imminent threat of serious injury; Emergency
assistance required by the fire department (not DOAs); physical domestics.
• Priority 2A: (Queue Time = Officer Driven) Any crime in progress initiated by the officer

• Priority 3: (Queue Time = 15 minutes) Domestics, neighbor trouble, etc., where no threat of
personal safety exists; Suspicious people, vehicles, window peepers, prowlers, trespassers,
exposers, etc.; traffic crashes, no personal injury; Assist the fire department with a DOA; fights,
mutual affrays, without weapons; assist any agency not amounting to priority 1 or priority 2;
Report of a citizen holding a suspect not amounting to a priority 1 or 2, does not include
shoplifters.

71
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Priority 4: (Queue Time = 60 minutes) Offense reports where no suspect is present and no
personal threat exists; Assist citizen in non-emergency matter; Shoplifters being held by store
security personnel; drunks, emotionally disturbed persons, disorderly persons, not threatening
physical harm.

• Priority 5: (Queue Time = 75 minutes) miscellaneous request for service, barking dogs, loud
party, loud radios, etc., parking complaints.

Focus on Priority 2 Calls

The data of most concern for the SPPD is the delayed response for Priority 2 calls for service. As stated
above, these calls are “Any crime in progress; Activity which indicates a crime is about to be committed
or has just been committed where suspects are in the area…” As a result, these are of extreme
importance to the SPPD for prompt dispatching to an officer(s) to respond.

The Queue-Time before dispatch is extremely short by policy for Priority 2 calls. It is expected that
within 30 seconds of the CFS being entered in CAD (put into the Queue), it will be dispatched to an
Officer.

Lack of timely Priority 2 response is a growing problem for Patrol Operations as previously presented in
Table 2.41 showing Queue Times for 2013-2018. The below Table 3.62 shows the growth in “timed out”
(In-Queue for more than 30 seconds) Priority 2 calls between 2013-2018:

Table 3.31 Growth of “Timed Out”

Priority 2 Calls 2013-2018
Priority 2
Average %
Increase
Patrol
District 2013-2018

Western 76.9%

Central 58.9%

Eastern 47%

City Wide 59.57%

Responding to Priority 2 Calls for Service immediately upon dispatch is extremely important to
the morale of Officers and is a life-safety issue for people in the community. The rest of this
section is designed to explain more about the problem, a partial solution already implemented,
and additional solutions to correct the problem.

72
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Analysis of Timed Out Priority 2 Queue-Times

The most recent example of delayed response times for Priority 2 calls is data between July 2018 – June
2019. A graphic depiction in Figure 3.63 shows the 5,169 Priority 2 calls not dispatched within 30
seconds (per policy) due to a lack of available patrol officers to answer them.

Figure 3.32

73
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The “Timed Out” Priority 2 Calls for Service from July 2018 to June 2019 is geographically portrayed in
below:

Figure 3.33

The disparate impact of these calls on Areas of Concentrated Poverty (ACP) is shown in Figure X.X and is
taken from the City’s ACP map data of February 2018:

Figure 3.34 Saint Paul Areas of Concentrated Poverty – February 2018

74
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Positive Efforts to Reduce All Queue-Times

RCECC Change to Policy
In the 4th quarter of 2018, a policy change occurred in the Ramsey County Emergency Communication
Center (RCECC); which handles dispatch services for the Saint Paul Police Department. The policy
change was done in conjunction with the Saint Paul Police Department and changed the following
business practices:

• The RCECC identified when all squads were busy on Calls for Service.
• The RCECC looked at the Queue of pending Calls for Service received by the RCECC and
identified Calls for Service that had been “In-Queue” beyond the maximum amount of
time that any Call for Service can go without being dispatched to an Officer.
• The RCECC requested police district squads to break away from their current Call for
Service to answer the newly “timed out” Call for Service that had not been assigned to a
squad.
• This active recruitment of “squads to break” caused a significant declined in the average
Queue-Times for all Calls for Service.

Saint Paul Police Western District Study

Also, in the 4th quarter of 2018, the Western District Patrol Operations command was studying how to
reduce the Queue-Times for calls awaiting service, especially from 1400-1900 hours each day, where
Queue-Times were very long. This period of the day experiences a shift change from Tour II (Days) to
Tour III (Afternoons) between 1600 hours and 1700 hours each day.

The West District test solution was to move to some of the afternoon shift (Tour III) to an early start at
1400 hours each day, instead of the traditional 1600 hours start time. As a result, 22% of the Tour III
officers moved to a 1400 hours start time. The other 78% of Officers continued to start at 1600 hours.

The goal was to determine if shifting Officers to an earlier part of the afternoon would decrease the
Queue-Times for Calls for Service (CFS) during this period of the day.

The below charts for the months of Feb-June 2018 (blue line) and Feb-June 2019 (red bars) show the
average number of Calls for Service (CFS) activity by hour of day for each month. From these charts, the
reader can identify very consistent call volumes for each month between 2018 and 2019; except for
June 2018-2019. (All charted information in the following graphs are derived from CAD records)

75
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Average Count of Calls for Service (CFS) Activity

Figure 3.35(1)

Figure 3.35(2)

76
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 3.35(3)

Figure 3.35(4)

77
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 3.35(5)

Average Time Calls are in Pending Queue

The below graphs the months of Feb-June 2018 (blue line) and Feb-June 2019 (red bars) showing the
Average Queue Times for CFS activity by hour of the day for each month. From these charts, the reader
can identify two trends:

• The 1400-1700 hours time-frame in the targeted range has a definite decline in pending queue
times for Calls for Service (CFS).
• The entire 24-hour time clock for the five (5) month period has a significant drop in Queue-
Times for pending Calls for Service (CFS).

Figure 3.36(1)

78
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 3.36(2)

Figure 3.36(3)

79
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 3.36(4)

Figure 3.36(5)

80
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 3.4 - Positive Effects on Priority 2 Queue-Times

Since both operational changes appear to have had a positive effect on Queue-Times, there are valuable
findings to be applied going forward:

• Additional Officers allocated in different time frames may influence outcomes in Calls
for Service Queue Times as shown in the large spikes in CFS from 1400-1700 were
reduced significantly.
• Communication Center (RCECC) changes in dispatch practices may positively influence
outcomes for Calls for Service Queue-Times as shown in the overall drop in pending
Queue-Times throughout the day.

Additional correlations for Queue-Times were observed earlier in this study in Patrol Operations data
between 2013-2018 in Chapter One. The three (3) correlative phenomena that occurred in 2016 were:

• The lowest average Priority 2 Queue Time (Table 2.41).

• The highest number of Officers assigned to Patrol Operations (Table 2.22).
• The lowest number of Calls for Service per Officer per year as primary Officer (Table 2.47).

(narrative continues on next page)

81
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

These three (3) data points intersected in providing the lowest Priority 2 Queue-Time over a five (5) year
period occurring in 2016. Figure 3.41 graphically demonstrates the relationship of this data from 2016-
2018:

Figure 3.41

Average Minutes of P2 Queue Time vs.

Average Number of Calls Per Officer
1200
2016-2018
2017
1000 2018
# of CFS Per Officer As Primary

2016
800

600

400

200

0
2:24 2:31 2:38 2:45 2:52 3:00
Average Queue Time - Priority 2 Calls for Service

The above correlations illustrate the importance of the number of Officers assigned to Patrol Operations
and the effect it has on service levels for high priority calls; and demonstrates that a confluence of these
factors in 2016 showed the best results between 2016-2018.

The next section explores this data further and solutions for additional reductions to “timed out” Priority
2 Calls for Service.

82
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 3.5 – Solutions to the Priority 2 Calls for Service Response Time
This section and Section 3.6 describe current staffing models in Patrol Operations and how to achieve the
better Priority 2 Queue-Time response.

To address the Priority 2 Calls for Service that are not being answered within 30 seconds, we must revisit
the graph depicting the delayed call-times. Figure 3.51 shows time delays involved in the 5,169 for the
year period between July 2018 and June 2019.

Figure 3.51

83
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The next graph (Figure 3.52) examines the distribution of the timed-out Priority 2 calls by hour of day
over the year period between July 2018 and June 2019.

Figure 3.52

Figure 3.52 shows the number of timed-out Priority 2 Calls for Service, they range between 17-135 calls
in a given hour of the day over a year period in a Patrol District.

If we use the high number in the range (135) for East District indicated with the red arrow, this statistic
means that 135 Priority 2 Calls for Service were not dispatched within 30 seconds in the 3 PM hour of
the day during a year period of time.

If we take this number (135) as an average over the year at the 3 PM hour, it also means that for 220
days of the year, all Priority 2 calls were dispatched within the 30 second required time frame (see
equation below).

365 days – 135 days = 220 days

If we start to extrapolate out this equation for every hour of the day for every Patrol District, we can see
that during any given hour over a year period, most Priority 2 calls can be covered by existing Patrol
Officers. For those that cannot, it is a matter of adjusting to the appropriate number of Patrol Officer
FTE’s to eliminate most Priority 2 calls that “time-out.”

84
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 3.6 - Solution to Priority 2 Queue-Times/Timed-Out Calls for Service

As seen in Figure 3.52, the number of “timed-out” Priority 2 Calls for Service, where no Officer is
available to respond, ranges between 17-135 calls in a given hour of the day over the period of a year.

As a result, this study proposes three (3) changes to prevent Priority 2 “timed-out” calls from occurring:

1. Add one (1) Police Officer to the mandatory minimum number of Officers assigned to each shift
in each patrol district.
2. Change patrol policy so that the last Officer available for service in a patrol district does not
engage in any proactive patrol activity unless necessary.
3. Change dispatch policy so that the last available Officer in a patrol district is only dispatched to
Priority 2 calls for service; and the Officer in the patrol district assigned to the lowest priority call
(e.g.; Priority 4 or 5) must break from their Call for Service to assist on the Priority 2 call.

In order to add one (1) Police Officer per shift, Tables 3.61(1) & 3.61(2) below will show the cumulative
effect on personnel levels.

Table 3.61(1) - Current Saint Paul Police Department Patrol Operations Staffing Model by Tour
Calculations for Patrol District FTE's Summer 2019

Central District (see below for calculations)

Tour FTE's Assigned Per Tour FTE's Scheduled Per Day Per Tour Acceptable FTE Loss Per Day Acceptable FTE Minimum Math to Minimum Raw Math Minimum
Tour I 21 12 4 8 (21/7)(4)=12 12
Tour II 25 14 4 (9+1)=10 (25/7)(4)=14 14.285
Tour III 30 17 6 11 (30/7)(4)=17 17.143
Total 76 43 14 29

East District
Tour FTE's Assigned Per Tour FTE's Scheduled Per Day Per Tour Acceptable FTE Loss Per Day Acceptable FTE Minimum Math to Minimum Raw Math Minimum
Tour I 21 12 4 8 (21/7)(4)=12 12
Tour II 33 19 6 (12+1)=13 (33/7)(4)=19 18.857
Tour III 37 21 8 13 (37/7)(4)=21 21.142
Total 91 52 18 34

West District
Tour FTE's Assigned Per Tour FTE's Scheduled Per Day Per Tour Acceptable FTE Loss Per Day Acceptable FTE Minimum Math to Minimum Raw Math Minimum
Tour I 21 12 4 8 (21/7)(4)=12 12
Tour II 33 19 6 (12+1)=13 (33/7)(4)=19 18.857
Tour III 37 21 8 13 (37/7)(4)=21 21.142
Total 91 52 18 34

• Central District Staff

The yellow Calculations:
section shows how many Patrol Officers should be assigned to our patrol schedule
Central
when Tour
allI Summer FTE Total:
staffing 21
positions are met.
(100% of East & West Tour I Calculations)
• The blue section shows the maximum number of Patrol Officers that can be scheduled for the
Central Tour II Summer FTE Total: 25
Tour.
(75.75% of East & West Tour II Calculation of 33 FTE’s)

• The Tour
Central orange section
III Summer shows
FTE Total: 30 how many Patrol Officers can be off the schedule for the Tour before
(81.08% of East & West Tour III Calculation of 37 FTE’s)
mandatory minimum staffing levels are met.
• The gray section shows how many Patrol Officers must be at work to meet mandatory minimum
staffing levels.
• At the far right, the Raw Math Minimum shows the mathematical formula for calculating how
many police officers are needed to meet daily shift requirements.

85
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Below is the same chart calculated to show the increase in minimum shift requirements by one (1)
Police Officer per shift.

Table 3.61(2) – Proposed Saint Paul Police Department Patrol Operations Staffing Model by Tour
Calculations for Patrol District FTE's - Staffing Study 2019

Central District (see below for calculations)

Tour FTE's Assigned Per Tour FTE's Scheduled Per Day Per Tour Acceptable FTE Loss Per Day Acceptable FTE Minimum Math to Minimum Raw Math Minimum
Tour I 23 13 4 9 (23/7)(4)=13 13.142
Tour II 27 15 4 (10+1)=11 (27/7)(4)=15 15.428
Tour III 32 18 6 12 (32/7)(4)=18 18.285
Total 82 46 14 32

East District
Tour FTE's Assigned Per Tour FTE's Scheduled Per Day Per Tour Acceptable FTE Loss Per Day Acceptable FTE Minimum Math to Minimum Raw Math Minimum
Tour I 23 13 4 9 (23/7)(4)=13 13.142
Tour II 35 20 6 (13+1)=14 (35/7)(4)=20 20
Tour III 39 22 8 14 (39/7)(4)=22 22.285
Total 97 55 18 37

West District
Tour FTE's Assigned Per Tour FTE's Scheduled Per Day Per Tour Acceptable FTE Loss Per Day Acceptable FTE Minimum Math to Minimum Raw Math Minimum
Tour I 23 13 4 9 (23/7)(4)=13 13.142
Tour II 35 20 6 (13+1)=14 (35/7)(4)=20 20
Tour III 39 22 8 14 (39/7)(4)=22 22.285
Total 97 55 18 37

In order to have an increase of one (1) Police Officer per shift:

• The yellow section must increase by two (2) Patrol Officers per Tour.
• The blue section will increase by one (1) Patrol Officer per Tour.
• The orange section will remain constant at the previous acceptable loss rate for each Tour
before mandatory minimum staffing levels are met.
• The gray section shows an increase of one (1) Patrol Officer per Tour to meet mandatory
minimum staffing levels.
• At the far right, the Raw Math Minimum shows the mathematical formula for calculating how
many Police Officers are needed to meet daily shift requirements.
• To meet new mandatory minimums in relationship to the attrition levels discussed in Table 3.14,
one (1) additional officer should be added to each Tour in each patrol district.

With the edition of one officer per shift and a change to dispatch and patrol protocols which preserves
the last available Officer in a patrol district for only Priority 2 calls, the ability of the SPPD to reduce
timed-out Priority 2 calls should be greatly increased.

As a result of these changes to positively effect Priority 2 response to Calls for Service, the SPPD will also
likely see an increase in the following:

• The number of persons apprehended for crimes associated with high priority calls like Domestic
Assaults and Robberies.
• The level of service to everyone in the community, especially people lived in Areas of
Concentrated Poverty.
• An increase to Officer wellness, when more resources have been put in place to support their
primary mission of protecting victims of crime.

86
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Final Summary of Priority 2 Queue-Time Solutions

To correct the problems of Priority 2 response times and provide a higher level of service for the
community, this study proposes the following strategic recommendations:

• Continue the Communications Center’s (RCECC) policy of working to breaking Officers away
from low priority calls to answer the newest Priority 2 calls that are “timing-out.”
• Fully staff the general patrol function of the three (3) patrol districts; removing from these ranks
any light duty, long-term sick, or military leave FTE’s from their rosters and including in each
patrol district’s census only Officers able to work in the patrol officer function.
• Increase the number of Officers assigned to each Tour in each patrol district by three (3)
Officers; while keeping minimum acceptable loss at the same rate. Bringing the number of
additional Officers to 27.

87
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 4.0 – Scheduling

The following section will cover:

• Current scheduling process of the SPPD

• Problems and solutions for scheduling large events and SPPD-wide training
• Master calendaring solution for large events and SPPD-wide training
• Overview of alternate patrol scheduling models

4.1 - Coordination of Patrol Assets with Demands of Scheduling

The section is an analysis of the scheduling process of the SPPD, cover an analysis of the current method
of patrol division scheduling, and make recommendations about resolving conflicts between the
scheduling of regular work days, special events, and all-staff training cycles.

Data/Observations:
Regular Patrol Operations Scheduling

The SPPD schedules Patrol Officers by Tour. These tours are:

Tour I: 2200-0800 hours

Tour II: 0700-1700 hours

Tour III: 1600-0200 hours

• Each Tour covers a 10-hour period and are overlapping. Tours I, II, & III in combination cover 24
hours per day, 7 days per week.
• Approximately 25% of Patrol Officer work on Tour I, 35% of Patrol Officer work on Tour II, and
40% of Patrol Officer work on Tour III.
• Calendar is divided into 7 Regular Day-Off (RDO) letters coded from the letters A-G (disregard
letters X,Y,Z that appear on calendar).

The calendar depicted in Figure 4.1 illustrates the following:

• Day-off letters in clusters of three (3) (these represent Officers not working on that calendar
day).
• The overall schedule rotates on a six (6) week schedule.
• Patrol Officers working three (3) weeks of 4 (10-hour) days followed by four (4) days off the
schedule.
• The following three (3) weeks, the calendar rotates to five (5) (10-hour) days followed by three
(3) days off the schedule.
• This cycle repeats throughout the entire calendar year.

88
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 4.11

Figure 4.12 below is an example of this Regular Day Off (RDO) calendar form as used for Patrol
Officer coverage projections for a Tour. In this case, Tour I in Eastern District Patrol.

Figure 4.12

89
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The use of 10-hour shifts at the patrol district level is a constructive way of scheduling given call loads,
overlaps, and peak times. See section 3 for further analysis. This system of scheduling works well as a
patrol operations schedule when it is fully staffed.

Work completed by outside research by the Police Foundation (19) in 2011 found that a 10-hour work
day for police patrol shiftwork is better for sleep/fatigue, job performance, quality of life, and reductions
in overtime accrual as compared to eight (8) and twelve (12) hour day options.

The 10-hour schedule the SPPD is currently using is one that has been in practice for over 25 years. This
schedule covers the basic scheduling needs for Patrol Operations. However, many other scheduling
schemata exist within a 10-hour system. While not all would be compatible with an agency the size of
the SPPD, there are 10-hour schedules with different merits and organizational dynamics and potential
positive effects on organizational dynamics.

This study endorses the continued use of the 10-hour day. While the SPPD may consider other
structures of this format, 10-hour schedules are the most compatible for the SPPD’s patrol operations.
The following are some of the outcomes of the current 10-hour scheduling format:

• Provides a 10-hour day for all staff.

• Equitable regardless of seniority position.
• Creates even coverage over the entire schedule for every patrol Tour (I, II, III).
• Allows schedule predictability for officers and supervisors for a full calendar year.
• Does not take into consideration peak times of need for staffing by hour of day or day of week.
• Does not allow for flexibility to move staff for peak times of coverage.
• Does not allow for movement of staff to cover known openings on the schedule.
• The overlapping nature of the schedule does not allow for better staff coverage during peak
periods of service need.

Saint Paul is a city that serves as a state capitol, major city in Minnesota, and as a focal point of sports,
holiday, and cultural events. Most events occur on an annualized basis or are scheduled out many
months to a year in advance. As a result, the SPPD has an opportunity to identify this calendar well
ahead of any given event’s occurrence.

4.2 - Large Event & Training Staffing

During interviews, staff at all levels have expressed that source of stress is scheduling large events and
training for the following reasons:

• The overlapping nature of multiple events on the same day.

• The lack of broad communication about person in-charge of a given event.
• Short notice from event commanders about staffing required from patrol districts and
investigative units for regular on-duty staff for events (i.e.; high school hockey tournaments,
festivals).
• Scheduling of mandatory SPPD-wide training during the same time frames as large events.

In the past. three types of staffing were used to have sworn officers covering major events:

90
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

1. On-duty personnel (paid at regular wage rate to cover a portion from district patrol operations)
2. On-duty overtime (posted and signed up for by officers on a volunteer basis)
3. Off-Duty Police Officers (paid for privately by event hosts)

In 2019, the SPPD began to change how major events are being scheduled. The SPPD is moving to an all-
paid overtime system. This system requires all major event hosts to staff all sworn officer positions at
the event using on-duty overtime. The goal is that by 2020, all off-duty employment will be eliminated
from large events and no regularly scheduled district patrol staff will be used for major events. Thus,
placing the cost burden onto the event host.

The Inspections Unit of the SPPD administrates the program and uses an on-line scheduling product to
notify staff, allow staff to sign up for their preferred voluntary overtime shifts, and then to assign out the
final schedule to officers interested in working specific event details.

Risk Management Considerations:

• 10-hour schedules have been found through research to be beneficial to Officer health and
wellness.
• Moving away from 10-hour scheduling may create wellness issues for Officers.
• Off-duty employment is difficult to monitor, control, and places sworn staff in the position
of being in-charge of and making decisions about private security while still representing the
SPPD with their sworn officer rank, peace officer powers, and use of the SPPD uniform.

Recommendations:
• Have the Inspections Unit continue removing off-duty employment from larger events. At the
time of publishing of this document, this has progressed even further than at the beginning of
this study.
• Continue to have process improvements to the master operations plan document and SPPD-
wide communication that is being done by the Special Operations Unit regarding large event
planning.
• Master Calendaring: The SPPD should entertain a master calendaring process. This is currently
done in certain instances when the agency knows of a large-scale event and restricts time-off or
“red-lines” the calendar.

91
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Next, it is recommended the SPPD do the following:

• Identify all major known events for the following calendar year in October of the preceding year
in a Master Calendaring Conference (MCC).
• Identify the expected minimum staffing needed for each event in the Master Calendaring
Conference.
• Identify how many expected regular duty staff are expected to work from each Patrol District or
other Unit of the agency at each event during the MCC.
• Identify command positions in-charge of each of these events at the MCC.
• Overlay the proposed training calendar for the upcoming year and identify those events that
cause peak demand for staffing of events and training.
• Develop a plan to move the parts of the training calendar most in conflict with patrol and
special event operations.
• After the bid is completed for each calendar year, each patrol district command staff should
immediately place into their staffing calendars “red-lines” or different shift minimums for peak
days of training and/or major events.

This methodology will allow our SPPD staff to take better control of scheduling and pre-plan needs
for staffing of District operations, special events, and training.

• Conversion of Major Events to Overtime

All large city events requiring sworn police officers should be scheduled using overtime assignments.
The benefits are as follows:

• Removes conflicts posed by off-duty employment status of sworn staff.

• Eliminates the strain put on patrol districts to provide regular on-duty staff
• Keeps regularly scheduled patrol district staff assigned to their regular duties.

92
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

One operational consideration of this model is that while staff may be signing up voluntarily for
overtime, scheduling mandatory training over large/major events, may still create a different
organizational stress in that it may reduce the availability of officers to staff large events when
mandatory training is scheduled at the same time.

4.3 Overview of Other Scheduling System Options for Patrol Districts

With other scheduling systems available, the SPPD should consider, and potentially field test different
schedules determine their effectiveness in field operations. As previously stated, each scheduling system
has bonuses and drawbacks. Below are two systems of scheduling that are worth further study. These
systems are in use in other agencies and versions of one of these scheduling formats is currently in use
in some units of the SPPD outside of district patrol operations.

Team/Power Shift Schedule:

Figure 4.31

Team A

Team B

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Week 1 Team A Team B

Week 2 Team A Team B

Week 3 Team A Team B

Week 4 Team A

The Team/Power Shift Schedule provides for 16 days worked per 28-day period with 14 days worked
with the same team of co-workers. Two (2) days per twenty-eight (28) period are worked with the other
team.

Example: Patrol Officer Smith is working on Team A. The Officer works fourteen (14) days of the
twenty-eight (28) day period with Team A. There are two (2) additional 10 Hour days of required time
that Officer Smith needs to work to meet his/her 160 hours for the twenty-eight (28) day cycle. These
two (2) 10 hour “power shift” days are scheduled within the Team B schedule. Power shift days may be
scheduled for coverage of:

• Known loss factors from the schedule

• Training
• Special Details
• Additional Coverage

93
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Example Schedule:

Figure 4.32

Team A

Team B

Required Time Days for Officer Smith

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Week 1 Team A Team B Ofc. Smith

Week 2 Team A Team B

Week 3 Team A Team B

Week 4 Ofc. Smith Team A

This schedule allows for the following:

• Staff who consistently work with one another.

• Supervision can be overlapped consistently with the same staff each work day.
• Predictability of 88% of the yearly schedule for planning purposes.
• Flexibility to assign regularly scheduled days for training and shift coverage.
• Allows for the employee to take vacation without interrupting 88% of the work schedule.

It should be noted that the use of the word “power shift” does not denote extra personnel. These
power shift days are an integral, yet flexible, part of the schedule.

G1/G2 “Heavy Wednesday” Schedule

The G1/G2 “Heaving Wednesday” schedule is currently in use in our FORCE, Gang Unit, and ACOP Units
of the SPPD. The dynamics of this schedule create two (2) teams of officers, each working together for
their entire work week and all staff work on each Wednesday as an overlap day.

Figure 4.33

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Week 1 Team A Team A&B Team B

Week 2 Team A Team A&B Team B

Week 3 Team A Team A&B Team B

Week 4 Team A&B

94
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The G1/G2 schedule allows for the following:

• Staff who consistently work with one another; this may produce more reliability in performance
outcomes of the group.
• Supervision can be overlapped consistently with the same staff each work day.
• 100% predictability of yearly schedule for planning purposes.
• Ability to schedule in-service training, special events, and some details on all staff days
(Wednesdays).

95
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section - 5.0 Patrol Operations – Specialized Units

The following section will cover:

• Descriptions of specialized units managed by Patrol Operations

• Risk management considerations and recommendations for each unit.

There are several units with specialized functions that report within the Patrol Operations Division:

• SWAT – Special Weapons & Tactics Team

• ODU – Ordinance Disposal Unit (Bomb Squad)
• Negotiators – Auxiliary unit to SWAT for barricaded, suicidal, & hostage situations
• FORCE Unit - Focusing Our Resources on Community Efforts
• Watch Commander Office – Night hours SPPD command

The following subsections will cover them.

Section 5.1 - Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) Team - Patrol Operations Division
The SWAT Team has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 5.11;

• A current personnel table shown in Table 5.11;

The SWAT Team Commanders report to the Deputy Chief of Patrol Operations.

Figure 5.11

Team
Commanders
(2)

Sergeants
(8)

Officers
(33)

96
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 5.11 SWAT Team

Personnel # of FTE’s
Type

Commander 2

Sergeant 8

Bomb 10
Technician

Total Staff 33

The SWAT Team is a collateral duty team comprised of sworn members of the SPPD; meaning all
members of the team have other full-time assignments and being a member of the SWAT Team is an
additional duty that is done on a part-time basis away from their regular duty assignments.

Data/Observations:
• The team is led by two Commanders. This allows for two-deep leadership at the top level of the
team.
• The team has eight (8) Sergeants, some of whom due to their level of experience and leadership
abilities, can lead the team if there happens to be an absence of both team Commanders.
• SWAT Team membership starts through passing a series of skill and physical testing. Both men
and women can complete these tests. At that point, candidates take on a probationary status
for up to a year, where they receive training and function within the team in the training
environment. At the end of the year, an assessment is made and they either fill open positions
on the team or are removed from the team. This process has been occurring formally for about
10 years and has proven to determine the ability of candidates.
• The team replaced all expired bullet resistant armor in 2019.
• All team members are also equipped with noise canceling headsets with a microphone which
has greatly improved the personal protective equipment for noise issues, which are substantial
in this training and operational environment.
• All team members are offered a basic AR-15 rifle. About 90% of team members put add-on
items on their weapons to create a rifle that is more customized to their physical needs.
• The SWAT Team has a current philosophy to render safe the area around a situation they are
brought into, surround the threat, and then draw the problem person(s) out and into a
controlled environment for safe apprehension. This tactical approach is done to minimize the
use of force and potential property damage in any situation.
• The SWAT Team has networked with other special tactics teams to learn their current
techniques and have helped to cascade this philosophy throughout SPPD training.

97
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The SWAT Team has avoided, through their tactical applications, using chemical munitions
inside a residence since 2010. This is viewed by this study as positive change as houses are
sometimes uninhabitable after the use of chemical munitions inside of them.
• The team has very good protective armor vehicles in-service but needs one transport vehicle
and a new command post vehicle.
• In personal equipment, each team member must buy much of their own non-protective
equipment, which is a burden financially, as the clothing allowance for Officers is not large
enough to cover the costs of both uniforms of the day and SWAT gear.

Risk Management Considerations:

• SWAT related problems that occur in our community produce a high level of risk exposure for
the City.
• The use of gas related munitions inside of a building can create liability up to the cost of the
structure.
• Ensure that SWAT tactical innovations continue to be disseminated to all sworn officers through
training; thus, equipping all Officers with up-to-date techniques.

Recommendations:
• Ensure team commander and trainers are connected to national level training that can bring
new tactics and approaches for the use of the SWAT Team and the entire SPPD.
• Have a budgeting mechanism to cover all standard purchases for new SWAT member equipment
and worn equipment replacement.

98
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 5.2 Ordinance Disposal Unit – ODU

The Ordinance Disposal Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 5.21;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 5.21;

The Commander of ODU reports to the Deputy Chief of the Patrol Division.

Figure 5.21

Commander (1)

Sergeant
(1)

Bomb
Technicians
(10)

Table 5.21

Personnel 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Type

Commander 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

Sergeant 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Bomb 11 10 10 10 10 10 10
Technician

Total Staff 12* 12* 12* 12* 12* 12* 12*

*Commander & Bomb Technicians are all collateral duty assignments.

Data/Observations:

• The unit has one (1) Commander position that was formally added in 2019 to give a clear
administrative reporting structure to the team.
• For many years, one (1) Sergeant has been assigned as the full-time leader/coordinator of ODU.
All other unit members are part of a collateral duty assignment, serve on a part-time basis.
• ODU is considered a federal asset and is one of four bomb squads in Minnesota. It has a
responsibility for the Eastern Metropolitan area, east of I-35 to Duluth and all Northwest
Wisconsin as a Federal asset.
• Budget items are from federal and state grants and the unit has purchased upwards of $3
million of equipment from grants. State of Minnesota reimburses the team at $200.00/hour for
all ODU responses that occur outside the City of Saint Paul.
• Out of city callouts account for 70% of their 200-250 callouts per year.
99
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The team is equipped to handle up to three callouts at the same time and have a dry land and
underwater capacity; underwater capability is important as we are considered a port city by the
U.S. Coast Guard and Homeland Security.
• Each bomb technician has 3 days of training per month.
• Each bomb technician receives the following training in preparation for this role:
o Basic Bomb Tech School – 6 weeks
o Hazardous Materials Training – 3 weeks
o Dive School – 1 week
o Yearly training for recertifications – 2-3 weeks per year
• Unit is egalitarian due to the nature of the work, rank structure is essentially used only for the
purposes of administrative work delegation.
• Recently the team was relocated to East Team and it allowed 90% of their assets to be
consolidated into one place.
• Unit administrative work:
o Grant Writing
o Upkeep of four bomb squad trucks and robots
o Supply ordering
o Ordinance destruction
o Inspection and tracking of training and equipment

Risk Management Considerations:

• As a large city in the Midwest, the presence of an ODU team is an asset that greatly reduces lost
staff time due to their quick response to the 60+ calls the City of Saint Paul generates per year.
• There is a risk in maintaining this team in the event federal and state grants are no longer
available.
• Risk to SPPD personnel at any event where devices are found and need to be disposed.
• Bomb squad members take more time away from their primary job due to training.

Recommendations:
• Retain team and support their efforts to continue to secure grants for equipment and program.
• Keep the Commander position in place as administrative oversight and consultant for the team.
• Consider the addition of one (1) Officer FTE to a full-time status to work on the continual duties
associated with having a federal asset as part of our organization. The work associated with
this unit requires high standards from state and federal scrutiny for grants, program, and
training.

100
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section - 5.3 F.O.R.C.E. Unit

The FORCE Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 5.31;

• Three (3) year personnel history from 2017-2019 shown in Table 5.31;

The Sergeant of FORCE reports to the Commander of Investigations for Western District.

Figure 5.31

Sergeant
(1)

Officers
(9)

Table 5.31

Personnel 2017 2018 2019

Type

Sergeant 1 1 1

Officer 9 9 9

Total Staff 210 10 10

The FORCE Unit (Focusing Our Resources on Community Efforts) has been a function of the SPPD for
over 25 years. FORCE was a centralized unit utilized SPPD-wide until 2010. It was de-centralized into
three teams at the police district level in 2010, and then re-consolidated unit one unit in 2017.

Data/Observations:
• The FORCE Unit serves all three patrol districts on problem property issues.
• Problem Property functions for the FORCE Unit primarily deal with hot spot complaints of
narcotics and weapons violations.
• Unit Sergeant attends community meetings across the city.
• Problem properties are divided into patrol districts and three (3) FORCE Officers are assigned to
each districts’ problem properties.
• Success in their efforts is mostly gauged by the number of arrests they make intersecting with
the problem addresses.
101
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• They work closely with district Code Enforcement Police Officers on problem locations.
• FORCE staff are often used for scene security at homicide and shooting scenes across the city.

Risk Management Considerations:

• One concern is FORCE Unit repetition of function with that of the Narcotics/Vice unit and the
Gang Unit.
• The type of discretionary enforcement work done by this unit needs good management level
supervision to prevent accusations of disparate enforcement tactics.

Recommendations:
• Disband the FORCE Unit due to its parallel duties with Gangs, Narcotics/Vice, and similarities to
district Code Enforcement. Re-deploy staff as follows:
o 1- Sergeant to afternoon shift Gang Unit.
o 4- Officers to afternoon shift Gang Unit.
o 3-Officers to Intelligence Unit.
o 1-Officer to Sex Crimes/POR
o 1-Officer to Robbery/Kidnapping

102
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 5.4 – Watch Commander Office

The Watch Commander Office:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 5.41;

The Watch Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Patrol Operations.

Figure 5.41

Deputy Chief of
Patrol Operations
(1)

Commander
(2)

The Watch Commander Office is a long-standing function of the SPPD going back generations. It has
taken different forms of scheduling, and currently covers from 1700-0300 hours five days each week and
from 1830-0230 two nights per week.

Data/Observations:
• Two Commanders are assigned to the Watch Commander Office.
• Responsibilities include review of incoming arrests for quality control of probable cause, report
writing, and other procedural concerns.
• Position staffs with full-time Watch Commanders at least 5 nights per week, and then has other
command staff fill in for vacations and other uncovered nights.
• Watch Commander position fills in the peak hours of arrests made during a 24-hour period and
acts in place of oversight that would otherwise be done by Patrol Commanders in each district
during daytime hours.
• Watch Commanders provide for managerial oversight when needed in high-risk incidents or for
problem solving situations with more complex aspects that may be difficult for Patrol Sergeants
to accomplish during high call volume periods.
• Watch Commander acts as the conduit for notification to upper administration on larger
incidents including homicides, car chases, aggravated assaults, and officer involved shootings.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Managerial oversight during periods of time where most command and administration is not
readily available is an important element of oversight for issues of risk to the SPPD.
• Having this level of command coverage in the evening hours is a minimum amount. This does
leave a gap in the very early morning hours that is covered by Patrol Sergeants. However, the

103
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

costs associated with “staffing up” management for what is ostensibly the lowest activity period
of the day (0300-0700) may not be easy to accomplish.
• It is important that this position continues to enforce policy and procedure as part of the
position and use discretionary override when needed.

Recommendations:
• Continue the practice of an established Watch Commander position within the SPPD.
• Continue to have this command position work during the peak evening hour time frame.
• Consider expansion of the position if budget dollars were available to do so.

104
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 5.5 – Canine Unit

The Canine Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 5.51;

• A current personnel table shown in Table 5.51;

Figure 5.51

Commander
(1)

Sergeant
(2)

Officer
(17)

Table 5.51
Personnel 2019
Type

Commander 1

Sergeant 2

Officer 18

Total Staff 21

The Canine Unit has Officers with canine partners working 24/7. The unit has the structure shown in
Figure 5.81 and unit staff shown in Table 5.82. The Commander of the Canine Unit reports to the Deputy
Chief of Patrol Operations. No Data/Observations

A separate study was completed in the first quarter of 2019 about the Canine Unit. Therefore, no
additional research findings are presented in this document.

105
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 5.6 Crisis - Negotiations Team

The Crisis Negotiations Team has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 5.61;

• A current personnel table shown in Table 5.61;

Figure 5.61

Team
Commander
(1)

Negotiators
(11)

Table 5.61

Personnel 2019
Type

Commander 1

Negotiators 11
*all collateral duty positions
Total Staff 12
Data/Observations:
• The Crisis Negotiations Team is a collateral duty for sworn officers of the Officer, Sergeant, and
Commander rank of the SPPD. When hired for the team, a new member may be an Officer or
Sergeant and can remain on the team through the rank of Commander due the amount of
training required, and experience team members acquire.
• The team works in a coordinated effort with SWAT and Patrol Operations.
• The process for screening new members has several aspects to capture the qualities needed to
be a negotiator.
• Continuing team membership requires regular attendance at unit training and ability to
regularly respond to team callouts.

106
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Risk Management Considerations:

• Negotiators must continually maintain latest standards in training on subject matter pertaining
to persons in crisis in order to operate with current best practices during field operations.

Recommendations:

• Maintain team at current levels of staffing and the allowance for the Officers, Sergeants, and
Commanders to be a part of the team to retain persons with experience.

107
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Major Crimes Division Data Analysis 2019

Section 6.0 - Introduction
The scope of this section of the study will accomplish the following:

• Describe unit and investigator workloads

• Describe unit organization
• Describe unit staffing levels
• Identify process and structural problems
• Identify recommendations for process and staffing issues or further research needed

Section 6.1 – Major Crimes Definitions & New Cases Equation

This chapter covers the Saint Paul Police Department’s Major Crimes Division. Figure 8.1 shows the
division’s organization flow chart.

Figure 6.1

The Major Crimes Division is led by a Deputy Chief who is assisted by an Executive Officer (Sergeant
rank) and shares a 0.5 FTE Office Assistant. The Deputy Chief reports directly to the Assistant Chief. The
division is made up of nine (9) major units, and sub-units within them, to manage the span of control.

In criminal investigations, one (1) case is equal to one (1) crime or set of crimes that happened in an
incident. In some instances, this is a single crime that is simplistic to solve, report on, and to prosecute.
In other cases, there are many criminal acts involved, more than one suspect, and extensive evidence
that must be reviewed during the investigation for best practice in criminal investigations. Typically,
more complex cases take longer to reach final disposition with the investigator or prosecutor to close
the case.

Section 9 will describe all the specific investigative units within the Major Crimes Division. The data
presented about each unit of investigations will include a table of data showing six (6) years of case data
for each unit. The six (6) years of case data was retrieved from the Saint Paul Police Records
Management System (RMS) database to provide yearly totals of information. Each category of

108
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

information is described on the left side of the table with each column representing one full year of
data.

In the beginning of each sub-section in this chapter a new investigative unit will be introduced and an
RMS data set will be presented.

The below “Sample Unit” data set shows the different ways a case can be closed by the different
disposition types shown in red. In blue, you will see the Average Case Time (days) to Closed Cases
statistic showing the average time it took for case completion.

Sample Unit RMS Sample Unit 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Case Data Figure
Total # of Cases 1830 1724 1740 1742 1739 1901
6.2
# of Cases Per Investigator 261 215 217 290 348 237

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed Cases 61 85 83 84 87 115

Recommended Range of Cases Per

Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 195 180 202 217 218 271

Declined 109 135 79 118 110 198

Types of
Noted 261 342 351 333 330 258
Closed Cases
Other/Unk. 1 6 8 9 1 12

Unfounded 41 28 22 6 20 56

Recovered Property 0 1 1 0 0 1

Exceptional Clearance 1 1 2 1 3 49

Pended 578 468 398 412 475 288

TOT Other Agency 644 563 677 645 581 768

Adults Booked for Crime 177 222 149 134 156 162

Adults Cited for Crime 20 11 8 3 5 11

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 2 0 2 3 0 0

Juvenile Booked at JDC 10 10 4 5 1 0

* In the glossary, there is a key for definitions of all the terms in the left-side column of the above chart.

At the end of each section, the headings of Data/Observations, Risk Management Considerations, and
Recommendations will be utilized.

Also, the two following descriptions will be used in the text of this chapter to describe the “type” of unit
being described. These descriptors are Hold Book Driven Workload and Investigative Driven Workload.
The following are the definitions of these phrases:
109
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

▪ Hold Book Driven Workload: This describes a Major Crimes unit where most of the work is due
to new arrests made on a regular basis; often times daily. These units typically have a shorter
number of “Average Case Time (Days) Closed Cases;” meaning the number of days from the
time the case began to the time when the case is closed due to a final disposition. In these types
of units, the scope of the work is usually focused on initial findings that happen within days of
the beginning of the case. The initial findings determine how the case will be handled due to
suspect(s) that are in-custody creating a “hold book” case that needs to be charged within 36
hours of arrest or the person in-custody must be released under the law.
▪ Investigative Driven Workload: This describes a Major Crimes unit where the major focus is on
building evidence of the following types: interviews, physical objects, video, and digital
evidence. There may be an in-custody “hold book” element to these cases, but longer
evidentiary processes are necessary to work towards the final finding of fact in these cases.

Caseload Management and Caseload Level Concerns

A significant concern of investigators, managers, and administrators of the SPPD is the caseload carried
by unit investigators. While there is no national standard for all investigations (26), this study will provide
an optimal range of caseloads that an investigator should be managing at any given time. This standard
range for Saint Paul Police Sergeant Investigators has been derived through examining the following
factors:

• Interviews with command staff managing investigative units

• Interviews with investigators
• Review of caseload data
• Review of other studies/literature
• Analysis of the Saint Paul Police Department investigative unit data
• An acceptable community standard for service

In determining a recommended range of cases per year for an investigator, the range of 25-40 cases
being managed at one time is recommended. This number of cases managed by an investigator allows
for:

• Effective tracking of data

• Evidence tracking and clearance
• Report writing
• Interviews with suspects/arrestees
• Forensics
• Statement collection from victims and witnesses
• Review of digital evidence
• Video management
• Search warrants

110
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The effectiveness of investigators has been observed to deteriorate when caseloads consistently get into
or above the 35-40 case range, where investigators begin to lose their ability to manage the quality of
the above listed factors. Therefore, this is an area of caution when looking at investigator caseloads.

New Cases Equation (NCE): An equation that will be used for understanding the workload of
investigators in this study will be the New Cases Equation. This equation will calculate the total number
of new cases an investigator should be expected to manage in a year to maintain an optimal average
daily caseload.

The New Cases Equation (NCE) can be used to determine how many new (incoming) cases per year an
investigator should be assigned and still be able to manage at the optimal average daily caseload level.
The following numerical factors must be used in the equation:

• 365 (number of days per year)

• Optimal Average Daily Caseload
• Average Case Time (Days) Closed Cases

The above three (3) factors need to be included in the New Cases Equation (NCE):

Next, enter numbers into this equation with the assumption that each investigator should have an
average of 30 cases to manage at any one time, with the numeric value from the Average Case Time
(Days) Closed Cases from the Sample Unit example in Figure 8.2 ; located in the 2018 data column was
115 cases:

• 365 (number of days per year) = 365

• Optimal Average Daily Caseload = 30
• Average Case Time (Days) Closed Cases = 115

The result is that the average number of new cases that should be assigned to an investigator per year is
95 cases; knowing the average case takes 115 days to close with the fixed number of cases being
managed at an average of 30 cases at a time.

Calculating a Recommended Range of Cases Per Investigator Per Year Using the New Cases Equation (NCE):

If an acceptable Recommended Range of Cases Per Investigator Per Year is calculated from the New Cases
Equation (NCE), the bottom of the range for Optimal Average Daily Caseload would be put into the
111
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

equation to calculate the NCE; then putting in the top of the range for the Optimal Average Daily
Caseload would be put into the equation to calculate the NCE.

To calculate this, enter a range for the Optimal Average Daily Caseload. Carry forward the earlier
example using the Sample Unit. Below are the values used the example:

• 365 (number of days per year) = 365

• Optimal Average Daily Caseload Range: 25-40
• Average Case Time (Days) Closed Cases = 115

Bottom of the Range Calculation (Average Daily Caseload of 25):

Top of the Range Calculation (Average Daily Caseload of 40):

This gives the caseload range for the New Cases Equation (NCE) of 79-127 newly assigned cases per year
as the expectation for an investigator with the Average Daily Caseload range of 25-40 cases.

Targeting Caseload Levels

In the RMS Caseload Data Chart for each investigative unit is a line marked Recommended Range of Cases
Per Investigator Per Year. For each year, this line will have a pre-calculated range using the New Cases
Equation calculation that will be juxtaposed with the corresponding year’s actual average new cases
assigned for investigators.

The range in the NCE calculations will be 25-40 cases and is viewed as the standard applied to the
study for the purposes of analysis and comparison.

112
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.0 - Major Crimes Unit Analysis

The work of the Major Crimes Division is made up of investigations of Felony, Gross Misdemeanor, and
Misdemeanor crimes where either a party reports something after the offense and the suspect in the
case is not immediately available to arrest; or when a crime is reported, and persons are taken into
custody during or shortly after the commission of a crime.

The following are the unit descriptions, data/observations, risk management considerations, and
recommendations:

Section 7.1 - Robbery/Homicide Unit-Major Crimes Division

The Robbery/Homicide Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.11;

• Six (6) year personnel history from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.11;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.22;

The Robbery/Homicide Senior Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.11

Senior Commander
(1)

Investigative Administrative Investigative Investigatve

Sergeants Assistant Sergeants Sergeants
Homicide Homicide Special Investigations Computer Forensics
(11) (1) (2) (2)

Officer Officer
(1) (2)

Crime Types Assigned to Robbery/Homicide

A. Kidnapping: when the victim is 18 years or older and there are no criminal sexual conduct
allegations
B. Impersonations of a peace officer
C. Abduction when the victim is 18 years or older and there are no criminal sexual conduct
allegations
D. Suicide attempts
E. Riot
F. Bigamy
G. Coercion
H. Assaults on SPPD personnel
I. Death investigations including homicide, suspicious, suicide and child deaths
J. Critical Incidents
K. Robbery
113
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

L. Cold Cases
M. Harassment, stalking and terroristic threats (non-domestic)
N. Unlawful possession of tear gas and/or electronic control devices
O. Drive-by shooting and other offenses involving the intentional or accidental discharge of a
firearm (with an identified victim)
P. Unlawful possession of bullet proof vest
Q. Obstruction of Legal Process
R. All non-domestic assaults

Robbery/Homicide Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.11

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Sr. Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 10 9 10 10 11 11

Officer 0 0 0 0 0 1

Civilian 1 1 1 2 1 1

Total Staff 12 11 14 13 13 14

114
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018 - Crime Data Robbery/Homicide Unit

Table 7.12
Homicide/Robbery 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 3446 3244 3519 2993 2530 2340

# of Cases Per Investigator 344.6 360.4 352 299.3 230 212.7

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 51 38 40 38 53 84

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 178-286 240-384 228-365 240-384 178-275 109-174

Per Investigator Per Year

# of Homicide Cases 14 13 21 21 24 18

# of Robbery Cases 665 788 850 815 837 630

# of Aggravated Assaults 1045 466 501 476 472 462

Cleared by Arrest 594 502 501 389 461 422

Declined 176 166 183 159 129 109

Noted 1313 1397 1387 1233 695 706

Other/Unk. 5 10 7 9 4 2

Unfounded 33 25 16 11 10 7

Recovered Property 0 0 2 6 1 1

Exceptional Clearance 5 0 2 3 3 69

Pended 1299 1111 1393 1163 1197 1006

TOT Other Agency 21 32 28 20 30 18

Total Booked for Crime 804 647 664 534 511 434

Cited for Crime 150 83 89 92 53 49

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 7 8 6 4 2 2

Juvenile Booked at JDC 33 23 27 16 14 7

115
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Robbery/Homicide Budget 2013-2018

Table 7.13

2013 2014
Budgeted Actual % (+/-) Budgeted Actual % (+/-)
Budget Budget

General $15,225 $11,218 -26% General $14,936 $15,724 +5%

Overtime $86,000 $267,608 +211% Overtime $86,000 $190,200 +121

2015 2016
Budgeted Actual % (+/-) Budgeted Actual % (+/-)
Budget Budget

General UNK UNK UNK General $13,991 $15,193 +8%

Overtime UNK UNK UNK Overtime $151,000 $228,679 +51%

2017 2018
Budgeted Actual % (+/-) Budgeted Actual % (+/-)
Budget Budget

General $13,991 $17,950 +28% General $13,991 $11,654 -17%

Overtime $151,000 $234,010 +55% Overtime $133,250 $213,673 +60%

**Please note a lack of financial data reported for FY2015

Data/Observations:
• The Robbery/Homicide Unit is currently divided into the following configuration:
o 1 Senior Commander
o 6 Homicide Investigators
o 3 Robbery Sergeant Investigators
o 1 Cold Case Sergeant Investigator
o 1 Officer assigned to assist all Sergeant Investigators
o 1 Clerical Staff assigned to assist all Sergeant Investigators and the unit Senior
Commander.
o 1 Investigative Assistant
o 2 Investigative Sergeants assigned to the Special Investigations Unit (sub-unit of
Homicide)
o 2 Police Officers assigned to the Special Investigations Unit (sub-unit of Homicide)
• Staff assigned to Robbery/Homicide are dedicated employees.
• The Robbery/Homicide Unit has a high level of ability to solve homicide cases.
• The “Cleared by Arrest” rate for Homicide is over 90% in most years; placing SPPD in the highest
tier of SPPDs in the nation for solving of homicide cases

116
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The staff work long hours and believe in the work they are doing to solve crimes on behalf of
victims and to reduce further violence.
• The unit normally exceeds their overtime budget by at least 50%.
• Unit overtime is used by Homicide investigators, Gang Unit co-mingled cases, and the Forensic
Science Unit.
• The level of overtime spent in most years by the unit could fund two (2) or more additional
investigative sergeants.
• The average caseload per investigator is over 200 cases per year.
• The average range of cases per investigator greatly exceeds recommended levels under the
standard NCE calculation.
• Average time to close a solvable homicide is one (1) year.
• The unit is “Hold Book” driven due to the large number of new arrests occurring on a regular
basis; these cases must be processed within 36 hours of arrest, causing time and resources to
be taken away from longitudinal investigations.
• The work of the unit has become more complex and technical in nature due to technology.
• Conducting search warrants, the review, and data mining of the following platforms are a new
occurrence and necessary for a proper and unimpeachable investigation: social media,
computers, cellular phones, Google/search-terms, CCTV footage, officer body worn camera
footage, squad car camera footage, and other emerging technologies.
• The sentiment of unit staff is that the many different crime types assigned to the
Robbery/Homicide are too great given the complexity of cases assigned to them and the
number of investigators in the unit.
• The current backlog of unsolved homicides in the City of Saint Paul is approximately 133 cases
since 1981.
• The unit averages five (5) calls per week on cold cases from friends, families, and law
enforcement agencies.
• The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) recommends that the optimal number of active
homicide investigations that any one person is the lead investigator is three (3) to four (4)
Homicide open cases per year due the increased complexity of modern casework (27).
• A national study indicates that if there is not an adequate number of homicide investigators to
fully handle cases, the number of successfully handled cases will decrease (27).
• Saint Paul Homicide works in teams of two investigators, which is directly in-line with national
models for homicide investigations (27).
• Non-sworn staff and police officer rank staff are nationally recommended to assist in homicide
investigative units with the multitude of tasks confronting a homicide investigation that can
distract the lead investigators in a case.
• Restricting the detailing of homicide investigators to participate in staffing details outside their
unit (e.g.; traffic direction, security details) should be an organizational priority; making them
the last unit in an organization to send staff to such events (27).
117
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• PERF recommends that all homicide investigators be issued a full package of agency electronics;
including cell phones, laptops/tablets, and other devices for increasing their efficiency while in
the field.
• Homicide’s Special Investigations function was transferred to the unit in March/April 2019
when the former stand-alone Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was dissolved with many of the
assets becoming the Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit. Two SIU functions are currently within
Homicide; Computer Forensics and the more traditional intelligence and apprehension element
of SIU. SIU field work is very helpful in assisting in homicide investigations, freeing up case
investigators to focus on core case functions.
• The Computer Forensics Unit is staffed historically by an Officer and a Sergeant. Currently,
there are two Sergeants assigned to this function and handles the forensic examination of
approximately 200 cell phones and 24 computers/laptops per year. These cases can possess
large amounts of digital data to be examined.
• The majority of Computer Forensics work previously originated from the Internet Crimes
Against Children Unit; now majority is from Homicide investigations.

Risk Management Issues:

• Many non-death related cases cannot be investigated with any rigor due to the lack of
personnel.
• Many persons are not held accountable for violent crimes they commit due to lack of
investigative resources.
• People who have committed a homicide(s) are not being held accountable for their crimes in
cold cases.
• DNA technology is now available and there is follow up necessary regarding older evidence
where DNA should be searched for and submitted for testing if present in old homicide cases.
More staff time is needed to use this resource to bring the evidence chain to a final conclusion
through testing and solve some of the associated crimes.
• Interviews with staff indicate that the stress level of working in Robbery/Homicide is too great.
While case content is stressful, staff identified that most of the stress comes from high caseload,
lack of time to solve cases, and the amount of overtime needed to complete their work.
• The lack of SPPD issued cell phones and laptop computers are an operational security, which
allows for the co-mingling of personal and SPPD data/information.
• Cold cases that are being actively pursued with an intentional methodology followed by a unit
increases a SPPD’s morale and create greater trust and satisfaction in its local police agency (27).
• Accreditation process is needed for Computer Forensics. It is an effective unit that needs
accreditation to meet the emerging rigor of this growing field of law enforcement investigations.

118
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Recommendations:

• All Investigators in the above-mentioned units should have SPPD cell phones and computer
technology that assists them in being able to operate more efficiently in field operations (27).
Additionally, this will prevent the co-mingling of data on personal communication and computer
equipment and avoid any potential data practices concerns.
• The high level of Hold Books assigned to this unit must be relieved through a process of re-
structuring the unit workload. Hold Book driven work detracts from the thorough investigation
of homicides.
• The study standard range for cases under management of 25-40 cases does not apply to
Homicides or Death Investigations due to the extreme case complexity; reduction in caseloads
are necessary.
• The Robbery/Homicide Unit caseload per investigator must be drastically reduced to increase
effectiveness of solving crimes that are not related to the crime of Homicide. By doing this, the
SPPD will deliver better results and service to the community, reducing repeat crimes by the
same offenders, and increasing the level of wellness of investigators.
• A Homicide Investigator should be assigned as a co-lead investigator for 3-4 homicides per year
and carrying an average caseload of other death investigations not exceeding a total of 12-15
total investigations at one time.
• Retain the one (1) Officer rank to the Homicide function specifically of the unit. An Officer
position in this unit can perform many ancillary functions for a case that allow the investigator
to focus on core issues as the principal investigator.
• Transfer Computer Forensics (2) investigators and functionality to the Forensic Science Unit as a
SPPD-wide asset. Additionally, this unit should seek national accreditation and make sure that a
full menu of annual training for unit investigators is pursued to gain certifications and maintain
them.
• The two (2) Sergeants and two (2) Officers in the main SIU function should be merged into other
units as part of the Major Crimes recommendations. Transfer the two (2) Sergeants to
Robbery/Kidnapping and one (1) Officer to Sex Crimes/POR and one (1) Officer to
Juvenile/Missing Persons.
• Add one (1) Office Assistant specifically for the Homicide Unit for unit administrative assistance
with case work.
• The Robbery/Homicide Unit must be split into four (4) sub-units reporting to two (2)
Commanders.
• The four (4) units should be as follows with the list of crimes each unit should investigate:
o Homicide Unit: 10 Investigative Sergeants; 1 Officer:
▪ Homicide
▪ Suspicious Deaths
▪ Overdose Related Deaths
▪ Suicides
▪ Suicide Attempts
119
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

▪ Child Deaths
▪ Critical Incidents
o Cold Case Homicide Unit: 2 Investigative Sergeants
▪ Cold Case Homicides
o Robbery/Kidnapping Unit: 4 Investigative Sergeants; 1 Officer
▪ Robbery
▪ Kidnapping: Where the victim is 18 years or older and there is no criminal sexual
conduct allegations
▪ Abduction: When the victim is 18 years or older and there are no criminal sexual
conduct allegations
▪ Riot
▪ Unlawful possession of tear gas and/or electronic devices
▪ Unlawful Possession of a bullet proof vest
o Violent Crimes Against Persons Unit: 6 Investigative Sergeants; 1 Officer
▪ All non-domestic assaults
▪ Drive-By Shooting and other offenses involving the intentional or accidental
discharge of a firearm (with an identified victim)
▪ Harassment
▪ Stalking
▪ Terroristic Threats (non-domestic)
▪ Assaults on SPPD personnel
▪ Obstruction of Legal Process
▪ Impersonation of a police officer
▪ Coercion
▪ Bigamy

120
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Unit re-structuring visual charts are as follows:

Figure 7.13 Homicide Unit

Commander
Homicide Unit

Cold Case
Homicide
Homicide
Section
Section

Investigative Investigative
Sergeants Sergeants
(10) (2)

Officer
(1)

Administartive
Assistant
(1)

Figure 7.14 Robbery/Violent Crimes Unit

Commander
Robbery/Violent
Crimes

Violent Crimes Administrative

Robbery/Kidnapping Assistant
Against Persons
Unit
Unit (1)

Investigative Investigative
Sergeants Sergeants
(4) (6)

Officer Officer
(1) (1)

121
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Breakdown of Cases Under New Model (using 2018 existing data)

Total Cases

Homicide Unit 410

Cold Case Unit 133

Robbery/Kidnapping 750

Violent Crimes Against 1162

Persons

122
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.2 - Sex Crimes Unit-Major Crimes Division

The Sex Crimes Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.21;

• Six (6) year personnel history from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.21;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.22;

The Sex Crimes Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.21

Commander
(1)

Investigative Administrative
Sergeants Assistant
(8) (1)

Officer
(1)

Crime Types Assigned to Sex Crimes Unit

A. Kidnapping: when the victim is 18 years or older and there are no criminal sexual conduct
allegations
B. All Sexual Assaults
C. Child Abuse Investigations

Sex Crimes Unit Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.21

Personnel 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Type

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 7** 8** 8 6 5** 8

Officer 3^ 3^ 3^ 3^ 2^ 2^

Clerk .5* .5* .5* .5* .5* 1

Total Staff 11.5 12.5 12.5 10.5 8.5 12

*Clerical FTE Shared with Family Violence **Includes Elder Abuse Inv. ^POR Officers

123
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018 - Sex Crimes Unit

Table 7.22

Sex Crimes 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 1830 1724 1740 1742 1739 1901

# of Cases Per Investigator 261 215 217 290 348 237

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 61 85 83 84 87 115

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 150-239 107-172 110-176 109-174 105-167 79-127

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 195 180 202 217 218 271

Declined 109 135 79 118 110 198

Noted 261 342 351 333 330 258

Other/Unk. 1 6 8 9 1 12

Unfounded 41 28 22 6 20 56

Recovered Property 0 1 1 0 0 1

Exceptional Clearance 1 1 2 1 3 49

Pended 578 468 398 412 475 288

TOT Other Agency 644 563 677 645 581 768

Adults Booked for Crime 177 222 149 134 156 162

Adults Cited for Crime 20 11 8 3 5 11

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 2 0 2 3 0 0

Juvenile Booked at JDC 10 10 4 5 1 0

Special Note: There are 300-350 Child Abuse cases reviewed per month by the Sex Crimes Unit.
Currently, only about 200 cases per year are opened as full investigations and included in the above
statistics. All the other cases are reviewed but not counted in yearly statistics at this time.

Data/Observations:
• During fall 2018 the Sex Crimes and Family Violence were split into two (2) units. A second
Commander was added to manage the Family Violence Unit along with a clerical FTE. This
division of labor reduced command level supervision by half and reduced the scope of each unit
and reduced conflict between multiple missions being pursued.
124
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Sex Crimes investigators believe that splitting up the unit has improved the focus of the unit to
only have to work on crimes of sexual violence, predatory offender registration, and child abuse
cases.
• Sex Crimes becoming a standalone unit allows for more thorough review of all reports by the
unit commander.
• Lack of transcriptionist who re-types whole interviews creates a large backlog of case work due
to the continual need of investigators to type narratives of interviews they have conducted.
• The Predatory Offender Registration (POR) program is embedded within the Sex Crimes Unit. It
historically had three (3) officers assigned to the program; currently one (1) police officer is
assigned to the program.
• POR has 1,110 registered sex offenders living in Saint Paul; 3,000 check-ins occur at the
department headquarters each year by POR Officers in the Sex Crimes Unit.
• POR program is unable to do residential compliance verification checks by visiting residential
addresses of registered sex offenders due to the lack of staffing.
• Sex Crimes Unit is a mandatory cross reporter with Ramsey County Child Protection. The
number of cases that are coming in are increasing every year.
• Ramsey County Child Protection sends 300-350 cases per month to the SPPD Sex Crimes Unit
requiring review by a Sex Crimes Sergeant Investigator each time. No case numbers are assigned
to these case reviews unless an investigation is opened.
• Each day, one (1) or two (2) of the Child Protection cases sent by Ramsey County Child
Protection are opened as new cases to be investigated by our Sex Crimes Unit; totaling
approximately 400 additional cases per year.
• Sex Crimes Unit has only enough resources to deal with the worst cases; Gross Misdemeanor
Malicious Punishment or higher-level charge and cases where drugs and guns are present.
• Sex Crimes Investigators receive cases of Child Abuse (physical abuse or maltreatment) and
Deprivation of Parental Rights which they believe is a specialized subset of investigative work
with specialized training that they do not possess.
• Investigators believe there is too much work to focus on the incoming case load.
• The Sex Crimes Unit receives Indecent Exposure cases which are cases of urinating in public. As
such, they believe this type of quality of life issue should not be handled by the Sex Crimes Unit.
• The number of cases assigned per investigator is well over 200 per year; averaging 261 cases per
investigator per year for the last six (6) years.
• The number of new cases assigned to Sex Crimes investigators exceeds the recommended case
range by approximately 100%.
• The number of days for a case to be closed has risen by almost 100% from 2013-2018; from 61
days to 115 days; this study finds the increase in time is due to the growing complexity of the
cases being managed and the high number of child protection cases reviewed that are not
counted in the overall RMS caseload of Sex Crimes investigators.

125
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Risk Management Issues:

• The large number of cases being handled by the Sex Crimes Unit creates a system of triage and
does not allow investigators to always pursue investigations as quickly or thoroughly as should
be done.
• Having only one POR officer prevents checking field compliance of registered sex offenders.
• Child Abuse cases are being placed at a threshold of severity for pursuing criminal charges.
Cases are only examined at a Gross Misdemeanor level or above in severity; or where guns and
drugs are present in the home. This triage threshold does not address certain crimes at all.
• Investigator stress due to the extreme workload is causing employee wellness issues.

Recommendations:
• The Sex Crimes Unit should add an additional eight (8) investigators to handle a caseload that
will move the historical number of cases averaging in the lower 200’s down to between 100-130
cases per investigator per year. This will allow the unit to become a more investigative driven
unit.
• Add eight (8) Sergeant Investigators will allow for caseloads to be aligned with the optimal
average caseload level.
• Add two (2) Officer positions to the Predatory Offender Registration (POR) program within the
Sex Crimes Unit.
• Re-establish sex offender residential verification checks with a historical full complement of
three (3) POR officers.
• Assign case numbers to all incoming child abuse reviews from Ramsey County Child Protection
or other sources for more accurate accounting of services provided in the reviewing process.
• Establish a transcription service to transcribe all interviews done by investigators to save time
spent on clerical tasks.
• Move all Indecent Exposure reports to the respective patrol district investigative units where
they occur.
• A Child Abuse Investigations Unit should be established to review and investigate the current
number of at least 3,600 Child Abuse cases being sent to the SPPD for review each year. The
unit should consist of the following staffing model:
o 1 Commander
o 4 Sergeant Investigators (Child Abuse Investigations Only)
o 1 or 2 Sergeant Investigators for Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigations
(*see recommendations for ICAC in Section 7.5)
o 1 Office Assistant

126
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 7.22 Child Abuse Unit Organizational Chart

Commander
(1)

Investigative
ICAC Sergeant Office Assistant
Sergeants
(2) (1)
(4)

127
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.3 - Family Violence Unit-Major Crimes Division

The Family Violence Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.31;

• Six (6) year personnel history from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.31;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.32;

The Family Violence Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.31

Commander
(1)

Investigative Administrative
Sergeants Assistant
(7) (1)

Officer
(2)

Crime Types Assigned to Family Violence Unit

▪ Domestic Assault (misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, felony)

▪ Assault 1st through 5th degree (minus 4th degree)
▪ Threats of Violence (formerly terroristic threats)
▪ Harassment
▪ Stalking
▪ Interference with Emergency Call
▪ Violations of; Orders for Protection, Domestic Abuse No-Contact Orders, Harassment Orders
▪ Domestic Assault by Strangulation
▪ Non-Consensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images (Revenge Porn)

128
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Family Violence Unit Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.31

Personnel 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Type

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 6 6 6 6.4 6 7**

Officer 3 2 2 2 1 2

Civilian .5* .5* .5* .5* .5* 1

Total Staff 11.5 10.5 13.5 12.5 12.5 13

*Clerical FTE shared with Sex Crimes 2013-2017 **Includes Elder Abuse Inv.

129
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018 – Family Violence Unit

Table 7.32

Family Violence 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # Cases Assigned 3198 3014 2924 2534 2923 3342

Total # of Cases Closed 2924 2921 2685 2296 2777 3112

# of Cases Per Investigator 533 502 487 396 487 477

Avg. Case Time (days) 12 19 28 7 10 15

Closed Cases
Recommended Range of Cases 760- 480- 325- 1303- 912- 608-
Per Investigator Per Year 1216 768 521 2805 1460 973

Cleared by Arrest 1296 1415 1173 994 1203 1274

Declined 386 804 1224 1010 1297 1432

Noted 291 223 231 253 263 397

Other/Unk. 2 3 6 7 3 2

Unfounded 15 2 2 0 0 0

Exceptional Clearance 1 0 1 0 1 0

Pended 925 468 44 26 7 0

TOT Other Agency 8 7 4 6 3 36

Total Booked for Crime 1288 1360 1174 867 1059 1123

Cited for Crime 373 19 11 5 19 10

Juvenile Arrested Not 21 3 0 0 0 0

Booked

Juvenile Booked at JDC 1 2 1 2 0 0

Data/Observations:
• The Family Violence Unit has investigators who are focused and passionate about their mission
of making victims and their families safe by holding offenders accountable.
• The unit has done an excellent job of sustaining the original Blue Print for Safety model devised
over a decade ago in a joint federal grant between Saint Paul Police and Praxis International. It is
still a model for advocacy, investigation, and prosecution; and the unit staff believe that their
work is homicide prevention.
130
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• This is a Hold Book driven unit due to the volume of cases and the average number of days until
a case is closed. Due to a small number of cases that remain open for continued investigation,
the “Averaged Case Time Closed Cases” would be even lower.
• During 2018, unit “Cleared by Arrest” rate was 37% for the year.
• For the first six months of 2019, the unit “Cleared by Arrest” rate was 51%.
• As a unit, staff are prevented from running short of staff, due to vacations or other staff
shortages, through the ability to use overtime and good management of the scheduling function
by the unit commander with the support of the SPPD’s administration.
• Due to the constant processing of new cases, the unit’s work does not allow for the unit to run
short of personnel. To prevent this problem, SPPD administration allows overtime when needed
to cover this Hold Book driven unit to prevent offenders from getting out of custody without
court appearances which compromises victim safety.
• The unit has well established partnerships with City and County Attorneys.
• The unit has well established partnerships with victim advocacy groups.
• This unit is a model for all SPPD’s investigative units and the City and County Attorney’s Offices.
This is due to the high level of cooperation that has developed between the Family Violence Unit
and the City and County Attorneys assigned to Domestic Violence prosecution processes
directed by the protocols in the Blue Print for Safety.
• The NCE equation appears skewed in the RMS data. This is due to the forced nature of the 48
Hour Rule timeline for charging jailed persons; which are continuously being processed by this
Hold Book Driven unit.

Risk Management Considerations:

• A reduction in the number of investigators assigned to this unit would have a negative effect on
the wellness of staff.
• A break down in the communication and cooperation between unit staff, the City or County
Attorney’s Offices, and/or advocacy groups would seriously damage the effectiveness of
investigating and prosecuting domestic abuse cases.

Recommendations:
• Add (1) Sergeant Investigator to reduce overtime and increase time-off the schedule relief
factor for the entire unit.
• At an administrative level, continue to examine the working relationships and process
improvements that have been made and future recommendations from all the partners working
on the Blue Print for Safety.

131
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.4 - Crimes Against Property Unit (CAPROP)

The CAPROP Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.41;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 7.41;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Tables 7.42-7.45:

The CAPROP Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.41

Commander
(1)

Officer Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeants

Clercial Civilian Analyst
APS Auto Theft Burglary Fraud & Forgery
(1) (1)
(1) (4) (6) (3)

Officer
(1)

Crime Types Assigned to CAPROP Units by sub-unit:

ARSON:

• Arson, 1st through 5th Degree (609.561 to 609.5632)

• False Fire Alarm/Tampering with Alarm System (609.686)
• Negligent Fires/Dangerous Smoking (609.576)
• Wildfire Arson (609.5641)
• Use of Ignition Device (609.5633)

Auto Theft:

• Auto Theft
• Breach of trust
• Possession of Theft tools
• Possession of Controlled Substance charges

132
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Burglary:

• Burglary 1st - 4th Degree

• Attempted Burglary
• Possession of Burglary Tools
• All crimes to include juvenile offenders
• Home Invasion Robbery or Assault- Burglary 1st Degree

Fraud & Forgery:

• 609.2335 Financial Exploitation of vulnerable Adult

• 609.2336 Deceptive or Unfair Trade Practices; Elderly or Disabled Victims
• 609.631 Check Forgery
• 609.506 False info to Police (false name to PD, Not related to MV which in my experience goes
to T&A)
• 609.52 Theft by swindle
• 609.535 Issuance of Dishonored Checks
• 609.527 ID Theft
• 609.54 Embezzlement of Public Funds
• 609.611 Insurance Fraud
• 609.625 Aggravated Forgery
• 609.63 Forgery
• 609.631 Counterfeiting of Currency
• 609.635 Obtaining signature by False Pretense
• 609.64 Recording , Filing of Forged Instrument
• 609.645 Fraudulent Statements
• 609.65 False Certification by Notary Public
• 609.652 Fraudulent DL and ID Cards
• 609.7475 Fraudulent Financing Statements
• 609.82 Fraud in Obtaining Credit
• 609.821 FTC Fraud
• 609.822 Mortgage Fraud
• 609.83 Falsely Impersonating Another
• Voter Fraud

133
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

CAPROP Unit Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.41

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Officer(s) APS 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Arson

Sergeants 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Auto Theft

Officer(s) 0 0 1 0 0 2 1

Auto Theft

Sergeants 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Burglary

Sergeants 3 2 3 2 3 3 3

Fraud & Forgery

Clerical 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Civilian Analyst 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Total Staff 17 16 18 16 17 19 19

134
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The following tables are SPPD RMS Data for each sub-unit of CAPROP:
RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018
Table 7.42
Arson/APS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 162 157 156 132 217 134

Total # of Cases Closed 138 157 134 134 175 181

# of Cases Per Investigator 162 157 156 132 217 134

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 98 65 70 70 61 83

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 93-148 140-224 130-209 130-209 149-239 110-176

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 19 21 16 11 10 12

Declined 4 3 1 5 5 9

Noted 24 17 15 15 44 30

Other/Unk. 11 23 9 5 8 10

Unfounded 0 0 2 1 0 0

Recovered Property 0 1 0 0 0 0

Exceptional Clearance 0 0 0 0 0 1

Pended 79 83 90 94 93 108

TOT Other Agency 1 9 1 2 15 11

Total Booked for Crime 13 17 12 10 10 23

Cited for Crime 0 0 2 1 0 0

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 1 0 0 0 0 1

Juvenile Booked at JDC 2 0 0 0 1 0

135
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018

Table 7.43
Auto Theft 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 2428 2733 2591 2761 3078 3448

Total # of Cases Closed 2271 2380 2741 2519 2847 3305

# of Cases Per Investigator 607 683 648 690 770 862

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 35 17 25 45 18 25

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 260-417 536-858 365-584 202-324 506-811 365-584

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 145 153 189 154 178 305

Declined 66 54 69 66 84 94

Noted 382 378 1 574 631 582

Other/Unk. 3 7 8 7 4 4

Unfounded 59 69 56 50 62 99

Recovered Property 372 27 30 1 4 45

Exceptional Clearance 0 3 1 1 1 1

Pended 1214 1636 1623 1520 1691 1932

TOT Other Agency 30 53 90 146 192 244

Total Booked for Crime 242 243 283 281 316 457

Cited for Crime 31 23 20 12 29 43

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 2 4 1 6 1 1

Juvenile Booked at JDC 1 8 2 7 6 7

136
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018 - Table 7.44

Burglary 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 3083 2465 2285 2406 2458 1963

Total # of Cases Closed 2545 2229 2230 2383 2387 1860

# of Cases Per Investigator 514 410 380 401 409 327

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 44 28 52 33 28 33

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 207-332 325-521 175-281 277-442 326-521 276-442

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 189 136 142 170 177 168

Declined 32 48 34 42 43 30

Noted 31 58 54 132 47 38

Other/Unk. 12 4 4 2 3 7

Unfounded 20 13 17 21 8 11

Recovered Property 3 4 1 2 3 10

Exceptional Clearance 6 1 10 4 2 3

Pended 2238 1960 1965 2004 2101 1590

TOT Other Agency 14 5 3 6 3 3

Total Booked for Crime 237 190 145 212 156 156

Cited for Crime 7 9 12 8 0 3

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 3 2 2 0 0 3

Juvenile Booked at JDC 19 15 24 16 10 21

137
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018

Table 7.45
Fraud & Forgery 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 1478 1444 1308 1490 1727 1513

Total # of Cases Closed 1032 1116 1077 1404 1384 1342

# of Cases Per Investigator 493 722 436 745 576 447

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 87 200 70 38 45 89

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 105-168 14-73 130-209 240-384 202-324 102-164

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 76 88 84 37 32 70

Declined 35 59 40 27 12 24

Noted 165 69 86 59 105 85

Other/Unk. 3 0 0 0 1 0

Unfounded 4 3 1 3 3 0

Recovered Property 2 0 0 0 1 0

Exceptional Clearance 0 2 0 1 0 0

Pended 519 742 738 1151 1094 989

TOT Other Agency 228 153 128 126 135 174

Total Booked for Crime 113 160 85 59 41 96

Cited for Crime 5 8 2 4 3 3

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 1 0 0 0 1 1

Juvenile Booked at JDC 9 0 1 1 0 1

Data/Observations:

General:

• Due to the current structure of the unit and the volume of cases, the Burglary and Auto Theft
units with CAPROP are Hold Book driven units.
• The commander of this unit has a very large span of control; and within the unit are several
specialty areas of criminal investigation.
• The unit currently changing the work of the clerical Office Assistant III and the civilian analyst to
do more information collection, sharing, and analysis.
138
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Auto Theft:

• The number of auto thefts in Saint Paul continue to be an increasing problem for the unit; 2018
marked a year with over 1,000 more auto thefts than in 2013.
• Auto Theft Investigators have increased their collaboration in recent years with the following
law enforcement agencies: Roseville, Maplewood, Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, and
Minneapolis, to share information and potentially identify same offenders who commit crimes
in the city. Additionally, they have networked with Dakota County, West Saint Paul, and South
Saint Paul to complete an Auto Theft “task force” due to the overlap in their Auto Theft related
crimes with Saint Paul.
• The unit is trying to re-work how workflow is managed to create time to focus on the top
offenders in the category of Auto Theft.
• The average caseload per Auto Theft investigator is too high in comparison to the optimal
average caseload standard.
• The unit has a civilian analyst funded by an Auto Theft grant.
• The unit commander is working to change the focus of the unit from a reactive “Hold Book”
driven approach to spending more time targeting top offenders with the County Attorney,
Ramsey County judges, and staff.
• CAPROP has had a “bait car” program for eight (8) years; the program is being revisited by the
current commander. Staff are working to keep the vehicles moving around the city and look like
cars in use. This requires hours of work each day by investigators. Unknown at this time if this
recent change will be effective.

Burglary

• Another major focus of the unit is Burglary investigations. In this area, there has been a slight
decrease in residential burglaries and slight increase in commercial burglaries.
• Five (5) Burglary investigators currently work on residential/retail burglaries and one (1)
investigator works on city-wide Commercial Burglaries.
• Historically, Burglary investigations have shifted between a centralized group working out of
headquarters and decentralized investigations that have been a part of Patrol District
investigations. In 2010, the most recent consolidation took place with a centralized Burglary Unit
as part of CAPROP at the headquarters offices.
• This study has found a current concern among staff in the Patrol Districts and in CAPROP about
the lack of connection between the centralized Burglary Unit with district investigators and
patrol officers. At issue is the information about burglary investigations, follow up, career
criminals, and prevention flowing to and from the centralized Burglary Unit to the Patrol District
operations.
• A re-examination of the efficacy of the centralized Burglary Unit function was in-progress in the
command staff prior to this study. The commander of CAPROP and the three Patrol District

139
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Senior Commanders believe that better service can be provided in solving burglary
investigations if investigations were reassigned to investigations at the Police Districts.

Risk Management Factors:

• The current level of Auto Thefts in Saint Paul is creating a quality of life and crime problem in the
City.
• There is an officer wellness concern in this investigative unit; it is a cause for concern due the
high-volume of cases investigated by this unit annually.
• There is the potential of information being lost to the Patrol Districts on burglaries with current
organizational structure of a centralized Burglary Unit.
• Decentralizing the Burglary Unit back to the Patrol Districts causes concern in the following
areas:
o Lack of quality control between Patrol Districts on how Burglary cases are being
managed.
o Potential lack of coordination and communication between Patrol District investigative
units in each district.
o Lack of a pooled resource for Burglary investigations.

However, retaining it as a centralized unit raises the following areas of concern:

o Lack of communication with the district Patrol Officers and command staff.
o Lack of attention to a Patrol Districts burglary patterns
o Lack of communication with other property crime investigators in district property crime
investigations who may be investigating the same suspects for other property crimes.

Recommendations:

General:

• Reduce the span of control of the CAPROP commander by removing burglary investigations.

Auto Theft:

• Commander of CAPROP should create a rubric of solvability for Auto Theft to more quickly pend
cases with little or no chance of being solved; thus, creating more time for investigators to
proactively address the top ten offenders currently committing Auto Thefts in Saint Paul. This
rubric model should be an administratively supported standard of triage in this high-volume
unit.
• The CAPROP Unit should work to automate the pend letter process. The work flow should
become paperless through automatic email generated letters sent to victims of auto theft and
other unit related crimes that have no solvability factors. This should be done to save time of

140
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

the unit clerical staff and investigators from working on cases lacking solvability; allowing for
more time to focus on cases with solvability factors.
• Add three (3) Auto Theft Investigators to reduce the average caseload per investigator to within
the optimal caseload range.

Burglary:

• Restructure the Burglary function of the Saint Paul Police Department to a de-centralized model
with the following criteria:
o Place two Investigative Sergeants for residential/retail Burglary investigations in each
Patrol District.
o Add one (1) Investigative Sergeant to the overall complement of burglary investigators
as a city-wide Commercial Burglary investigator in the Western District. Placement in
this district is due to the number of Commercial Burglaries happening in the Western
District and for space and span of control concerns.
o Create a regular meeting of all burglary investigators to share information, connect
trends between Patrol Districts, and keep up regular relationships between these
investigators when joint work is necessary.

141
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.5 - Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit

The Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.51;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.51;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Tables 7.52 & 7.53;

The Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit (Safe Streets) has the following organizational structure shown
in Figure 7.51 and Table 7.51 shows the history of personnel assigned the unit from 2013-2019. Tables
7.52 & 7.53 show a six (6) unit history of caseloads and activity from 2013-2018.

Figure 7.51

Commander
(1)

Officers Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeants

Joint Terrorism Task Safe Streets - FBI Task ICAC Marshals Service Task
Force Force Force
(1)
(2) (2) (0)

Officers
Safe Streets-FBI Task
Force
(5)

The Safe Streets Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes. The current unit make up has
four different task force affiliations:

FBI Safe Streets Task Force: This is a task force combining police officers from local agencies which are
coordinated with local FBI agents to work on inter-jurisdictional cases concerning organized crime, drug
trafficking organizations (DTO’s), homicides, and gun trafficking cases. The SPPD is reimbursed for
overtime, vehicles, electronic devices, and training for every officer assigned to this task force. These
assets are to be used only by the SPPD member assigned to the task force.

Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF): This is a confederation of police officers from local agencies who are
coordinated with local FBI agents to address domestic and international terrorism intelligence, criminal
actions, and investigations. The SPPD is reimbursed for overtime, vehicles, electronic devices, and
training for every SPPD member assigned to this task force.

Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC): This Investigative Sergeant position is networked with three
different task forces:

▪ Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s ICAC group.

▪ FBI Child Exploitation Task Force
▪ Center for Missing and Exploited Children-Cyber Tips

142
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

The purpose of ICAC is to investigate internet based sexual exploitation of children; primarily through
pornographic images of minors. The SPPD credited for overtime, electronic devices, and training for
every SPPD member assigned to this task force. These assets are to be used only by the SPPD member
assigned to the task force.

Crime Types Assigned to Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit

▪ Narcotics
▪ Weapons Violations
▪ Violent gangs
▪ Homicide

Crime Types Assigned to Joint Terrorism Task Force Unit

▪ Cases assigned through FBI
▪ Bomb Threats
▪ Domestic Terrorism

Crime Types Assigned to Internet Crimes Against Children Unit

▪ Child Pornography

Safe Streets Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.51
Personnel 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Type
Commander 1 1 1 1 0* 0* 1

Sergeant(s) Safe 2 2 1 5 2 2 2
Streets

Officers 4 4 4 5 5 5^^ 5^^

Safe Streets

Officers 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

JTTF

Sergeant(s) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

ICAC

North Star 1 1 1 1 1 1 0^
Fugitive Task
Force

Civilians 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total Staff 11 11 10 15 11 9 11

*Supervised by Special Investigations Unit Commander ^Current vacancy in position due to BWC policy ^^Not filled due to lack of overall
personnel available within the SPPD

143
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018

Table 7.52

ICAC 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 78 36 44 32 35 28

# of Cases Per Investigator 78 36 44 32 35 28

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 233 110 112 153 220 377
Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 39-67 83-133 81-130 60-95 42-66 24-38

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 18 19 19 9 7 8

Declined 5 1 1 6 2 0

Noted 8 2 4 4 4 8

Other/Unk. 0 0 0 0 0 0

Unfounded 5 1 1 0 0 1

Exceptional Clearance 1 0 0 0 0 3

Pended 29 9 15 10 21 4

TOT Other Agency 12 4 4 3 1 4

Total Booked for Crime 6 5 4 4 2 1

Cited for Crime 1 0 0 0 0 0

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 0 0 0 0 0 0

Juvenile Booked at JDC 0 0 0 0 0 0

144
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018

Table 7.53

Safe Streets** 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 28 50 35 73 29 UNK
# of Cases Per Investigator 4.6 8.3 7 7.3 4.1 UNK
Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 1243 1136 481 479 516 733
Cases
Recommended Range of Cases Data Not Data Not Data Not Data Not Data Not Data Not
Per Investigator Per Year Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable Applicable
Cleared by Arrest 21 29 17 37 14 32
Declined 0 0 1 3 2 5
Noted 1 11 13 19 3 10
Other/Unk. 0 2 2 1 1 1
Unfounded 0 0 0 0 1 0
Recovered Property 0 1 0 0 0 1
Exceptional Clearance 0 0 0 0 1 1
Located Missing Person 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pended 6 6 2 11 6 3
TOT Other Agency 0 1 0 2 1 21
Total Booked for Crime 21 24 13 52 21 52
Cited for Crime 0 0 0 3 0 0
Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 0 0 0 0 0 0
Juvenile Cited for Crime 0 0 0 1 0 0
**Partial RMS information due to federal data systems used for case management

Data/Observations:
Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit
▪ There has been a historical shift in the assets of the current Safe Streets unit which occurred in
March 2019 during a SPPD reorganization. Prior to March 2019, the current Safe Streets unit
was part of the Special Investigations Unit. This unit had one commander, sergeants in
Computer Forensics, task force officers (Safe Streets, JTTF, ICAC, Marshals Fugitive), and
investigative intelligence sworn staff working together in this unit together. The March 2019
reorganization by SPPD administration split up the Special Investigations Unit and move its staff
into the following areas:
o Safe Streets
o Special Operations Unit (2 sergeants who worked on investigative intelligence)
o Special Investigations (2 Sergeants & 2 Officers) sub-unit with the Robbery/Homicide
Unit.
o Computer Forensics (2 Sergeants) sub-unit within the Robbery/Homicide Unit.
▪ Optimal staffing for Safe Streets is 2 Sergeants and 6 Officers; this allows for two (2) teams of
four (4) to work on investigative assignments (1 Sergeant and 3 Officers). Due to the high
risk/high reward operations they are involved in and tactics used, a team of four persons is
often needed to be safe and effective.

145
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

▪ Currently, there is one Officer rank vacancy in the Safe Streets program that is not being filled
due to other SPPD staffing of personnel.
▪ There is a vacancy in the U.S. Marshals North Star Fugitive Task Force. This is due to a conflict
between our SPPD’s mandate for sworn staff to wear body cameras and the Federal system
which does not currently have a provision for the use of body cameras during for sworn staff.
This caused Chief Todd Axtell to discontinue our participation in this task force. Currently the
Federal government is creating guidance on the use of body worn cameras in task force
environments. It believed before the end of 2020 this guidance will be completed allowing Saint
Paul Police to rejoin this task force.

ICAC

▪ For the ICAC Unit, there is a high volume of work that must occur in each case handled by the
ICAC investigator as indicated by the long Average Case Time Case Closed data for each year.
▪ The workload per case in ICAC is similar to a Homicide investigator and should be limited to an
assigned case range of 10-20 cases per year.
▪ The average amount of time it takes to close a case for the ICAC investigator is 201 days.
▪ There is no redundancy for the ICAC Investigative Sergeant position.
▪ The ICAC position currently lacks overlap between investigators assigned to this unit; thus,
leaving an inherent flaw when the position is replaced by a new Investigative Sergeant. Carry
over of institutional knowledge about the work of the position.
▪ The current one-person isolated office is not recommended for mental health of staff per
information gained at the national ICAC conference in 2019.
▪ All the investigators in this unit (except for ICAC) work outside of the Saint Paul Police
Department; and have problems with logging into and using the SPPD’s Records Management
System (RMS) where they create some of their reports. This makes documentation for reports
that should go into RMS difficult to complete.

Risk Management Considerations:

Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit
▪ Keeping a small span of control is important for this high risk/high reward environment.
▪ There is a high level of discretionary authority in these positions needs continual supervision and
review.
▪ These positions have a high level of investigative expertise and the SPPD must manage the
turnover in these units to keep institutional knowledge.

ICAC

▪ There is a lack of redundancy in ICAC for institutional knowledge or loss factor of current
Investigative Sergeant due health, injury, etc.

146
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

▪ The mental and physical health of these positions is a concern due to the nature of the hours of
work, stress levels created by the work, and work content, especially in ICAC.

Recommendations:
Safe Streets/Task Force Officer Unit
▪ Add back a U.S. Marshals Task Force officer after the body worn camera guidelines are
established and are in alignment with SPPD policy.
▪ Add back a sixth officer position in the Safe Streets task force to have two (2) full teams of
investigators.
▪ Improve the ability of outside task force officers to interface with the SPPD’s RMS.

ICAC
▪ Add one (1) Sergeant Investigator in the ICAC section to reduce the average number of cases
assigned to an investigator.
▪ Create office space for ICAC investigator(s) that is in alignment with the national ICAC guidelines.
▪ Move the ICAC Unit (positions) to the new unit recommendation for a Child Abuse Unit in the
Major Crimes Division. This will get it into a span of control that is located within the same
building as its commander and reduce dispersed span of control of the Safe Streets commander;
and well within the span of control manageable by a new Child Abuse Unit commander.

147
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.6 - Gang Unit/Gun Unit

The Gang Unit/Gun Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.61;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.61;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.62;

The Gang Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.61

Commander
(1)

Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeant

Clerical Staff
Gang Unit Gun Unit ATF Task Force
(1)
(2) (4) (1)

Officers
Officers
ATF Task Force
(14)
(2)

Crime Types Assigned to Gangs/Gun Unit

• Violations of conditions of Permit to Purchase Firearm

• Violations of Permit to Carry Firearm
• BB Gun Incidents in Public Places
• Gang related crimes with firearm
o Aggravated assaults
o Homicides
o Sexual assaults
o Terroristic threats
o Burglaries
o Auto-thefts
o VOCSL
o Riot
o Crime for the benefit of a gang
• Violations of Firearm Hardware
o Short barreled shotguns
o Altered serial numbers
148
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Gang Unit Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.61

Personnel 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Type

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 6 9 6 6 7 7 7

Officer 9 6 11 12 16 16 16

Office 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
Assistant

Total Staff 16 17 18 19 25 25 25

149
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018

Table 7.62

Gang Unit 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 1391 1320 1516 1776 2089 1483

Total # of Cases Closed 1222 1335 1413 1698 1885 1451

# of Cases Per Investigator 231 147 253 296 298 212

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 105 95 60 60 64 109

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 87-139 96-154 152-243 152-243 143-228 83-133

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 162 196 196 199 190 228

Declined 41 40 35 24 45 48

Noted 576 653 585 847 958 625

Other/Unk. 9 4 6 5 2 2

Unfounded 17 7 14 2 6 2

Recovered Property 56 61 71 125 102 83

Exceptional Clearance 1 0 0 0 8 0

Pended 358 371 504 493 572 463

TOT Other Agency 2 3 2 3 2 2

Total Booked for Crime 294 337 364 312 328 392

Cited for Crime 24 40 22 51 25 12

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 3 4 6 2 1 0

Juvenile Booked at JDC 17 20 26 15 22 12

Data/Observations:
▪ The Gang/Gun Unit work is part of the Chief of Police’s overall strategy to combat gun
violence in the city.
▪ The Gun Unit is a sub-unit within the Gang Unit that reports to the overall unit
Commander. The Gun Unit is comprised of four (4) Investigative Sergeants.
▪ An Investigative Sergeant and two (2) Officers are assigned to the Alcohol Tobacco and
Firearms Task Force. These task force members are housed for some of their work
hours with the Gang/Gun Unit and have other task force responsibilities outside of the

150
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

SPPD. This task force is attached to the Gang/Gun Unit due to their purpose in
combating illegal gun possession and violence.
▪ This unit is an Investigations Driven unit due to the number of cases, types of cases, and
time it takes to close the average case.
▪ The Gang/Gun Unit is part of the community engagement of the SPPD by its support of
the G.R.I.P. program, which is a community-based program intervening with youth who
are either in gangs currently or are in at-risk groups for gang recruitment.
▪ The Gang/Gun Unit is present at many community festivals each year where gang
activity has historically occurred, or criminal intelligence is indicating gang activity may
occur.
▪ Investigative cases handled by the Gang/Gun Unit have different origins, including:
o Self-Initiated reports from work in criminal intelligence or community events.
o Information reports written by police officers.
o Aggravated Assault cases referred to the unit for investigation due to a gang
nexus.
o Robbery cases referred to the unit for investigation due to a gang nexus.
o Homicide cases referred to the unit for investigation due to a gang nexus.
o Drug or weapons cases referred to the unit for investigation due to a gang
nexus.
▪ The Gang/Gun unit is called in to assist with about 50% of all homicide cases in the city.
▪ The Gun Unit is currently working at a very high level of functionality. Every person
identified in a gun related case has contact made with them by a case investigator.
▪ The Tour II (daytime) shift staff of the general Gang Unit has one (1) Investigative
Sergeant and four (10) Officers.
▪ The Tour III (afternoon) shift staff of the general Gang Unit has one (1) Investigative
Sergeant and four (6) officers.
▪ The Gang/Gun Unit sees a lot of overlap in their investigations and the case work they
do with F.O.R.C.E. and Homicide.
▪ The unit has a high level of responsibility for criminal intelligence gathering and
dissemination without dedicated staff for this function.
▪ Additional overtime spent by the Gang/Gun Unit is attached to the Homicide Unit
budget of the SPPD.

Risk Management Considerations:

▪ The SPPD must always ensure this is a high functioning unit due to its importance to the
prevention, detection, and intervention in Gang activity in Saint Paul. A break-down in the
Gang/Gun Unit’s functionality would have a negative impact on the quality of life in the
community.

151
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

▪ Assuring accountability to supervision is critical to the legitimacy of the Gang/Gun Unit. Poor
performance due to a lack of supervision would greatly hinder the ability of this unit to continue
to function in the high discretionary fashion in which it currently operates – which is also a
strength of the unit.
▪ High levels of accountability for “buy funds” needs to be continually monitored.
▪ The SPPD must ensure administrative oversight that the criminal intelligence gathering done by
this unit does not become profiling or “guilty by association.”
▪ Criminal intelligence information that is gathered by this unit must not be allowed to be ignored
or lost due to a lack of resources for packaging it for dissemination.

Recommendations:
▪ One (1) Investigative Sergeant position should be added as an administrative sergeant to the
Commander. This will allow to manage the larger than normal span of control and operations of
the unit.
▪ The FORCE Unit staff should have one (1) Investigative Sergeant and four (4) Officers from the
current unit merged into the Gang Unit Tour III staff; thus, expanding the Gang Unit Tour III to a
second working group of one (1) Investigative Sergeant and four (4) Officers.
▪ The expanded Tour III staff should work opposite sides of the schedule to cover all seven (7)
days of the week until 0200 or 0300 hours each morning with one (1) Investigative Sergeant and
four (4) Officers. This will provide the SPPD the ability to have staffing available for an “initial
investigative response team.”
▪ The Tour III staff should be trained and constituted formally as an “Initial Investigative
Response Team” for shooting scenes which are classified as:
o Aggravated Assaults
o Attempted Homicides
o Homicides
▪ The “Initial Investigative Response Team” will be positioned to handle the interior initial
evidence collection and scene preservation, victim/witness interviews, and criminal intelligence
development. This team will determine whether a case should be packaged and delivered to
the Violent Crimes Against Persons/Robbery/Homicide/Crime Lab units; or to assist those units
if circumstances dictate that they should response to the scene for further immediate in-depth
investigations. This will also alleviate the burden on Patrol Division operations for committing a
high level of resources to preserve these scenes.
▪ The overtime and general supply budget of the Gang Unit should be re-examined to better
reflect the fiscal resources to sustain this unit given the level of involvement they have in so
many cases involving violent crime.

152
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.7 - Juvenile Unit – Major Crimes Division

The Sex Crimes Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.71;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 7.71;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.72;

The Juvenile Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.71

Commander
(1)

Investigative Officer
Office Assistant
Sergeants Missing Persons
(1)
(7) (3)

Crime Types Assigned to the Juvenile Unit

1. All Misdemeanors involving juvenile offenders

2. All Gross Misdemeanors involving juvenile offenders
3. All Felonies involving juvenile offenders
4. Fifth Degree Sexual Assault cases involving juvenile offenders

Juvenile crimes not investigated by Juvenile Unit:

1. Homicide
2. Sex Crimes
3. Child Abuse (with juvenile offender)
4. Burglaries
5. DUI

153
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Gang Unit Personnel 2013-2018

Table 7.71

Personnel 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Type

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 9 9 9 7 9 9 7

Officer 4 4 4 4 3 2 1

Clerk 1 2 1 1 1 1 1

Total Staff 15 16 15 13 14 14 10

Table 7.72

Juvenile Unit 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 4679 3830 3651 3502 3229 3962
# of Cases Per Investigator 425 348 331 389 294 396
Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 21 22 35 36 28 113
Cases
Recommended Range of Cases 434-695 416-663 261-417 254-406 326-521 81-129
Per Investigator Per Year
Cleared by Arrest 970 730 606 594 437 805
Declined 23 47 74 75 77 208
Noted 522 439 298 339 275 318
Other/Unk. 5 5 11 6 8 11
Unfounded 13 13 11 18 18 26
Recovered Property 17 8 8 7 11 8
Exceptional Clearance 352 376 299 201 233 295
Located Missing Person 2386 1919 2000 1877 1788 2020
Pended 377 285 336 360 357 256
TOT Other Agency 14 8 8 25 25 15
Total Booked for Crime 167 163 150 105 147 257
Cited for Crime 213 129 148 130 91 116
Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 617 508 294 189 145 198
Juvenile Booked at JDC 509 447 389 381 274 463

A subset of cases embedded within the overall number of cases handled by the Juvenile Unit is Missing
Persons/Runaways. These events include adult cases (for Missing Persons) and are investigated by an
154
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Officer rank investigator assigned to these specific types of cases. This subset of case data is shown
below in Table 7.73.

Table 7.73

Juvenile Unit 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Missing Persons/Runaway
Cases
Total # of Cases 2185 2046 2370 1959 1946 2135

Data/Observations:
• Staff report a high level of teamwork among co-workers within the unit.
• Unit staff appreciate getting investigators who transfer-in from other units as they add new
dimensions to their investigative capabilities; including staff from Sex Crimes, Gangs, and other
specialty units.
• Juvenile cases require specific time lines in many instances that need to be followed;
necessitating substantial attention from an investigator in the hours and days just after a
juvenile is arrested.
• The study found through auditing that other Major Crimes units that have responsibility for
investigating some juvenile crimes (listed at the top of this section) do not properly keep the
Juvenile Criminal Histories database up to date.
• The actual average number of cases per investigator is within the range of the recommended
range of cases per investigator in two (2) of the last three (3) years.
• In 2018, caseloads were noticeably outside the recommended range of cases per investigator
due to the longer Average Time (days) to Closed Case number.
• Juvenile cases require additional staff time per case due to the involvement of parents.
• The majority of crimes the unit currently investigates are Robbery and Auto Theft.
• The number of felony cases investigated prevents staff working with parents of troubled
children they have identified as needing their assistance; or spending a lot of time discussing
referrals to Ramsey County services that may assist them.
• Due to workloads, staff are unable to attend community events that would be beneficial to help
address juvenile issues.
• In March 2019, the School Resource Officer (SRO’s) program was removed from the Juvenile
Unit and placed within the Community Outreach Unit of the Community Engagement Division.
Staff said this has reduced their “eyes and ears” in the schools to better assist juveniles who are
having issues.
• The removal of the SRO program from the Juvenile Unit reduced the span of control for the unit
commander as it removed nine (9) sworn staff from the unit.
• Policy changes in the Saint Paul Public Schools has reduced by 60-70% the number of cases they
handle where children have been cited or arrested in school environments.

155
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The Juvenile Unit participates in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative coordinating
committee which involves community, school, and justice partners to change policies and
increase diversion for juvenile offenders.
• The Juvenile Unit sees the effect of Saint Paul Schools policy changes where school staff are now
handling many juvenile crimes through diversion process handled directly by the school system.
• Cases handled by the Juvenile Unit that transfer to a diversion process are mostly lesser offenses
referred to Youth Services Bureau (YSB); however, there is concern about YSB’s ability to
continue to sustain this work due to cuts to YSB staffing.
• Staff numbers of Sergeant Investigators has remained at around the eight (8) investigator over
time.
• Staff numbers historically included three (3) Missing Persons/Runaway Officers who function in
the role of investigators. In the last 2 years, that number fell to two (2) officers and now stands
at only one (1) officer. This staff loss was due to transfers to other units and replacements have
not yet occurred.
• The number of cases of Missing Persons has remained steady in a range from 1946-2370 over
the six (6) year period, while criminal juvenile offenses have decreased from 2013-2018.
• The number of cases being handled by the current one (1) Missing Persons/Runaway Officer is
far beyond the ability or scope of one person to manage. There is a universal belief by unit staff
that three (3) Missing Persons/Runaway Officers are necessary due to the volume of these type
of cases.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Continued assessment of caseloads; if the caseload average continues to trend outside of the
recommended range, the need to add additional investigators must be reviewed.
• Lack of crime specialization among investigators may lend itself to inefficiencies.
• The SPPD should monitor the concern about the communication linkage between the School
Resource Officers and Juvenile investigators due to the separation of these two staff groups
under the March 2019 reorganization.
• The number of cases under the Missing Persons/Runaway classification is consistent from year
to year and exposes the SPPD to criticism for the lack of investigative staff currently assigned to
these cases.
• Out of date juvenile criminal histories from units outside of Juvenile Unit can create a lack of
accurate data for Juvenile investigators when making case decisions.

Recommendations:
• Add two (2) Officers to Missing Persons/Runaway investigations for a total of three (3)
consistently assigned to this responsibility.
• Work on a communication linkage between Juvenile Unit investigators and SRO’s in Saint Paul
Public Schools. Note: The removal of the SRO function from Juvenile had the positive affect of
156
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

reducing the Juvenile Unit commander’s span of control. It also placed the SRO’s in a unit where
the focus is outreach versus enforcement which is also complimentary to the goals of what the
Saint Paul Schools want from our SRO program given school district policy objectives.
• Increase compliance with keeping the juvenile criminal history database updated by other Major
Crimes unit investigators.

157
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.8 – Narcotics/Human Trafficking/Criminal Proceeds Unit (NHTCP) -

Major Crimes Division
The NHTCP Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.81;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 7.81;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Tables 7.82 & 7.83;

The Narcotics/Vice Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Major Crimes.

Figure 7.81

Commander
(1)

Investigative Sergeant Investigatve Sergeant Investigative Sergeant

Investigative Sergeants Investigative Sergeant
Office Assistant III DEA Task Force/HSI Human Trafficking Task
Narcotics Criminal Proceeds DSI
(1) TAsk Force Force
(2) (1) (1)
(1) (1)

Officer Officer Officers Officers Research Analyst

(6) (4) (2) (2) (1)

Narcotics/Vice Personnel 2013-2019

Table 7.81

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 6 7 7 7 7 6 7

Officer 10 12 12 12 12 14 14

Clerical/Analysis 1 1 1 1 1 2 2

Total Staff 18 21 21 21 21 23 24

158
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

RMS Caseload Data 2013-2018 - Crime Data - Narcotics

Table 7.82

Narcotics 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 1162 732 1050 812 881 1041
# of Cases Per Investigator 98 116
Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 113 215 202 143 146 262
Cases
Recommended Range of Cases 63-100 35-56
Per Investigator Per Year
Cleared by Arrest 648 432 622 479 493 728
Declined 159 71 85 85 66 119
Noted 100 87 132 51 83 314
Other/Unk. 10 1 4 6 5 4
Unfounded 0 1 2 2 2
Recovered Property 35 26 29 49 61 71
Exceptional Clearance 0 1 1 1 1 1
Pended 194 106 153 113 139 75
TOT Other Agency 16 8 23 26 31 10
Total Booked for Crime 1073 632 870 690 646 829
Cited for Crime 237 159 182 100 125 199
Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 3 7 2 0 0 2
Juvenile Booked at JDC 6 3 0 6 1 0

Table 7.83

Vice Unit 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 264 225 98 101 143 138
# of Cases Per Investigator 36 35
Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 105 91 222 214 168 133
Cases
Recommended Range of Cases 54-87 69-110
Per Investigator Per Year
Cleared by Arrest 128 22 33 45 71 75
Declined 8 7 1 1 7 2
Noted 19 104 21 10 11 14
Other/Unk. 1 2 4 0 1 1
Unfounded 6 0 1 0 2 1
Recovered Property 1 0 0 0 0 25
Exceptional Clearance 1 0 0 0 0 0
Located Missing Person 0 1 0 0 1 0
Pended 40 26 22 29 35 25
TOT Other Agency 60 63 16 16 15 20
Total Booked for Crime 105 21 31 32 48 29
Cited for Crime 45 44 2 17 33 69
Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 7 1 0 4 0 0
Juvenile Booked at JDC 1 0 0 3 0 3

Data/Observations:

159
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The Narcotics/Human Trafficking/Criminal Proceeds Unit (NHTCP) is three interconnected

operations that serve to approach organized drug and human trafficking cases from five (5)
different disciplines.
• Narcotics: Two (2) Sergeants and four (4) Officers are assigned to this subset of the larger NHTCP
Unit. These sworn staff members are responsible for working local Saint Paul/Ramsey County
drug cases. They are officially a part of the Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team
(VCET). They sometimes work together as part of cases involving the County Sheriff’s Office or
suburban agencies that are also a part of this team but spend the majority of their time working
on Saint Paul specific drug cases of mid-level or higher echelon drug trafficking operations.
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): One
(1) Sergeant and four (4) Officers are assigned to the DEA Task Force and one (1) Sergeant
assigned to HSI are networked with federal assets and other agencies across the Midwest to
combat drug trafficking operations moving across international and state lines.
• Human Trafficking Task Force: One (1) Sergeant, one (1) Research Analyst, and two (2) Officers
are assigned to this subset which is housed at the Minnesota BCA and is part of a state-wide
Human Trafficking task force. Being a part of this task force allows our staff to investigate and
enforce prostitution and human trafficking laws anywhere in the state.
• SPPD of Safety and Inspections (DSI): (1) Sergeant who is the SPPD point of contact for all
related issues at City of Saint Paul DSI.
• The NHTCP Unit has evolved over time. Before 2010, Narcotics was a standalone unit, as was
our traditional Vice Unit. With the advent of a more sophisticated understanding of human
trafficking, the nexus of forensic accounting in law enforcement, and shifting patterns in drug
trafficking, the modern unit is more sophisticated in its investigative techniques.
• An internal estimate by NHTCP staff indicated that these unit functions could grow by 50% due
to the amount of criminal activity occurring in their areas of expertise. However, NHTCP is self-
moderating and typically only takes on the work that it can handle. Thus, not making expansion
necessary to be successful as an operation.
• The crime data in the above charts is not complete due to multiple systems in use both at the
Federal, State, and City level. These statistics are good “snapshots” but are not meant to be
complete.
• The partnerships with Minnesota BCA, DEA, and HSI are good fiscal relationships as these task
force relationships provide staff vehicles, covering of overtime costs, cell phones/computers,
and other equipment purchases to the partnership for SPPD.
• The majority of prosecutable cases brought to the Federal system through the local task forces
are from Saint Paul Police NHTCP investigators.
• A partnership opportunity with DEA in their prescription drug task force is available to the SPPD
with the same offering of cars, overtime, and equipment for participation. So far, the SPPD has
not participated due to staffing issues.

160
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The asset with the most unique qualities in this group is the Criminal Proceeds sub-unit. These
three (3) sworn staff are all certified forensic accountants and can develop financial intelligence
on cases that previously the SPPD was unable to ascertain through traditional law enforcement
investigations. The concern in this unit is the need for legacy training for people who would be
hired into these positions in the future as the work is specialized in nature.
• Saint Paul has become a hub for distribution of many different types of narcotics (including
methamphetamine, heroin). This is a departure from previous decades where the Saint Paul and
surrounding area was a “destination” for drugs to be sold. However, Saint Paul now is seen by
drug trafficking operations as a place where drugs are brought to and then sent out in a
distribution network into Wisconsin, the Dakotas, northern Minnesota, and Canada.

Risk Management Considerations:

• For the Commander position, it is important to have someone with experience at the command
level due to complexities of this position.
• Set certain length of time that a person serves in NHTCP; regular rotation of staff starting at the
5-year mark as this is an excellent unit to develop staff. Lack of rotation reduces opportunities
for other staff to have exposure to these types of investigative responsibilities.
• Internal and external inspections of unit data unit must be done to ensure that there is no abuse
of the discretionary authority of persons inside the unit.
• Legacy planning for replacement of Criminal Proceeds sworn staff.

Recommendations:
• Commander position should be rotated every 3-5 years. Fresh perspectives on these critical
operations is necessary for continuing success.
• Develop a legacy plan that identifies replacement employees for the Criminal Proceeds staff
along with formal training and field experience to prepare them for taking on these positions.
• Evaluate the opportunity to provide a sworn officer to become a member of the DEA’s
prescription drug task force.

161
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 7.9 – District Investigations (Western, Central, and Eastern District)

The District Investigations Units have:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 7.91;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 7.91;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 7.92 – 7.94;
• Each District Investigations Unit operates within the Patrol Operations Division and are
physically located within each Patrol District office.

Each District Investigative Commander reports to their respective District’s Senior Commander.

Figure 7.91

Commander
(1)

Investigative
Sergeant
(2)

District Investigations Personnel 2013-2019

Table 7.91

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

(East, Central,
West)

Sergeant (East) 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Sergeant (Central) 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Sergeant (West) 2 2 2 2 2 2 3

Total Staff 7 7 7 7 7 7 8

162
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 7.92

Central District Investigations 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 4758 4222 4355 3915 4360 3803

# of Cases Per Investigator 2379 2111 2177 1957 2180 1915

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 50 48 14 17 17 36

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 182-292 190-304 652- 536-859 537-859 253-405

Per Investigator Per Year 1042

Cleared by Arrest 1640 1296 1180 881 1071 748

Declined 13 26 28 29 15 16

Noted 1402 634 833 929 914 849

Other/Unk. 31 226 6 31 13 2

Unfounded 16 43 18 13 9 14

Recovered Property 191 197 223 132 152 202

Exceptional Clearance 10 0 0 13 1 0

Pended 1776 1245 1178 1570 1554 1430

TOT Other Agency 17 8 4 49 17 26

Total Booked for Crime 1185 954 920 677 814 717

Cited for Crime 718 354 310 259 301 216

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 33 2 3 1 6 18

Juvenile Booked at JDC 15 4 3 5 4 25

163
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 7.93

East District Investigations 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases Assigned 4272 3722 3848 3705 4506 3437

# of Cases Per Investigator 2136 1861 1924 1852 2253 1718

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 18 17 15 14 42 47

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 506-811 536-858 608-973 652- 217-348 194-311

Per Investigator Per Year 1042

Cleared by Arrest 1235 985 1037 837 716 990

Declined 10 22 33 22 32 23

Noted 612 567 661 841 1074 611

Other/Unk. 4 15 7 4 5 1

Unfounded 11 21 13 7 13 8

Recovered Property 170 159 157 136 98 239

Exceptional Clearance 0 6 0 0 5 0

Pended 1541 1393 1427 1369 1322 1683

TOT Other Agency 37 18 46 38 63 125

Total Booked for Crime 998 908 887 749 666 871

Cited for Crime 373 162 187 101 107 173

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 12 19 21 1 2 2

Juvenile Booked at JDC 4 2 1 3 3 2

164
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 7.94

West Investigations 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total # of Cases 4801 4486 4607 4479 5357 4613

# of Cases Per Investigator 2400 2243 2303 2239 2678 2306

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 39 35 51 32 67 66

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 233-374 261-417 179-286 285-456 136-218 138-221

Per Investigator Per Year

Cleared by Arrest 1227 902 904 700 1242 1287

Declined 29 14 33 25 29 25

Noted 817 678 956 921 852 670

Other/Unk. 0 0 0 13 6 10

Unfounded 27 10 22 26 16 26

Recovered Property 233 139 171 178 242 408

Exceptional Clearance 0 2 3 2 5 14

Pended 2454 2725 2501 2578 2930 2168

TOT Other Agency 14 16 17 36 33 5

Total Booked for Crime 723 739 717 639 714 651

Cited for Crime 739 364 356 237 624 678

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 15 12 4 11 2 4

Juvenile Booked at JDC 7 2 4 2 0 1

Data/Observations:

• District investigative units handle all other cases not managed by special units.
• Many in-custody arrests at the misdemeanor level are handled by district investigators.
• Unit investigators try to establish rapport with new patrol officers and teach them the basics of
what is needed to make for good report taking for investigative follow up.
• Investigators find differing quality in reports they review generated by Officers, poorer quality
reports make follow up investigations difficult to conduct.
• Most cases handled are property crimes such as Theft and Property Damage; but also include
Trespassing, Loitering, Obstruction of Legal Process, Harassment, etc. These units also handle
these and other cases from Misdemeanor to Felony levels.
165
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Historically district investigations are Hold Book driven units and manage high volumes of cases
every day.
• Each district investigative unit greatly exceeds the recommended case range.
• Unit investigators constantly find themselves well outside their ability to pay special attention to
many cases due to the lack of time available to them.
• In 2019, the SPPD instituted an on-line crime reporting Investigative Sergeant. This is a brand-
new position and data is just beginning to be collected. At the time of this report,
approximately 2,000 cases have already been reviewed through this system.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The high volume of cases being managed by district investigators raises a concern for quality
control.
• Employee wellness is a concern for investigators who are in this high-volume environment long-
term.
• The lack of quality control of reports being approved by supervisors is a concern due to the
additional work needed to be done by investigators to create an effective case for investigation.
• On-line reporting creates a new stream of information and expectations from members of the
community that will need to be monitored.

Recommendations:

• Add two (2) Sergeant Investigators to each District Investigative Unit to reduce the high-volume
caseload per investigator (this is in addition to the recommendation to transfer Burglary
investigations to district investigations).
• Address quality control of report writing through training and managerial oversight.
• In 2020, evaluate the effectiveness and re-directed workflow from other investigative units that
occurs from the establishment of the on-line reporting function.

166
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 8.0 - General Overall Recommendations for Major Crimes Division

The following section will cover:

• General recommendations for Major Crimes Division

• Additional command staff member
• Adding Criminal Intelligence unit

Recommendations:

Section 8.1 – General Recommendations for all Major Crimes Units

• Creation of an investigative rubric/decision chart for each investigative unit. This initiative
should be supported by SPPD administration to decide the process for all incoming cases a unit
receives. A current major stress in investigative units is the time and resources spent on cases
with a lack of solvability factors; as standards vary department-wide for investigative units. This
puts investigators in the position of having to use their own varying level of experience or level
of relationship with a victim to close a case with no real solvability factors. Standardized
rubrics/decision charts will create continuity, standardization, clearer paths to pending cases
with no solvability, and provide more investigator time to solve cases with solvability factors.
• Investment in transcription services for statements of victims and suspects. An inordinate
amount of time is wasted across the SPPD by investigators who work to write paraphrased or
fully transcribed statements into their reports. This is an enormous problem that can be fully
remedied by either hiring transcriptionists as SPPD employees or as a third-party service.
• The SPPD needs to continuously monitor the amount/volume of cases sent to investigators as an
employee health issue and quality control issue. The number of cases the average investigator
handles within a year period is very high and volume outstrips their ability to do quality work on
all the cases assigned to them. This will also serve the community by more effective
investigations that will hold offenders accountable, reduce future victimization, and restore
victims of crime.

Section 8.2 - Proposed Additional Units/Command Staff

• Criminal Intelligence Unit: The Saint Paul Police Department, along with law enforcement
agencies nationwide, has experienced large changes in how investigations are conducted
over the past decade. Some factors include:
o Use of social media communication tool
o Widespread use of smart phones
o Universal access and use of computers
o Access to the “dark web” for criminal enterprise
o Smart technologies available for consumers
o Common use of public and private video cameras and surveillance video recordings
o Body worn cameras and in-car cameras used by law enforcement
167
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

o Computer forensic technology

o Concerns about foreign and domestic terrorism
o Increase in forensic technology for law enforcement
o Public expectations about police use of technology to solve crime

For these reasons, it is important for the Saint Paul Police SPPD to adapt its business
practices around the use available technology and build a strengthened competency around
gathering and disbursing criminal intelligence. The SPPD has developed, at times in the past
and present, excellent criminal intelligence data to hold offenders accountable and prevent
further criminal activity in the community. A repeated theme has been observed in the
interviews with investigative units about the need to provide more coordinated efforts
around criminal intelligence. The following is a proposal to address this need.

This report is recommending a resource to address system-wide resources for data mining,
relationship mapping, crime mapping, information bulletins, and video analysis. The
recommendation of this report is for the formation of a Criminal Intelligence Unit. Unit
functionality would include:
o 24 hour video surveillance using the CCTV Unit as a sub-unit of Criminal Intelligence
o 16 hours per day of Sergeant level supervision of the activities of the unit
o 16 hours per day intelligence analysis done by on-sight analysts
o Crime mapping for emerging and long-term issues
o Video analysis
o Relationship mapping
o Daily bulletins covering violent offenders, gun violence, and career criminals
currently active in the community.
o The addition of a Criminal Intelligence Unit will provide a 24-hour amenity to
investigations, special event planning and operations, and Patrol Division daily
operations.
o Have physical space and operating procedures to accommodate liaisons from
different units of the SPPD, with dedicated space and a working relationship with
liaisons from:
▪ Homicide Unit
▪ Narcotics Unit
▪ Special Operations Unit
▪ Gang unit
▪ Violent Crimes Against Persons

168
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 8.21 Criminal Intelligence Unit Organizational Chart

Commander
(1)

Investigative Sergeant
Investigative Sergeants Clerical Staff
CCTV
(2) (1)
(1)

Civilian Analysts Civilian CCTV Liaison for Violent

Officers Liaison for Narcotics Liaison for Homcide Liaison for Special
Technicians Crimes Against Persons Liaison for Gang Unit
(6) (2) Unit Unit Operations Unit
(6) Unit

As part of this proposal the following FTE additions/changes are proposed to occur:

Current FTE Position Shifts:

• 2 Civilian analysts would move from the Technology Unit to the Intelligence Unit.
• 1 Sergeant from CCTV/Video Management would move to the CCTV arm of the
Intelligence Unit.
• 3 Officer position from the FORCE Unit to the Intelligence Unit.
• 4 Officer positions from CCTV/Video Management would move back into other
existing Officer rank positions in the SPPD; then add 6 civilian CCTV Technicians to
create a 24-hour functionality for our camera network for all Patrol and Investigative
operations.

Additional FTE Positions:

• 1 Civilian Analyst position

• 6 CCTV analysts/technicians
• 1 Clerical Position

169
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 8.21 Criminal Intelligence Unit Staffing (Proposed)

Personnel Type 2013

Commander 1

Sergeant 3

Officer 6

Clerical 1

Civ. CCTV Technicians 6

Civilian Analyst 3

Total Staff 20

Section 8.3 - Proposal for Director of Strategic Criminal Intelligence and

Investigations
This study recommends a Director of Strategic Criminal Intelligence and Investigations for the Saint Paul
Police Department. The Director will oversee operations of the Major Crimes units that deal with higher
profile cases and ensure cross-unit coordination to maximize the SPPD’s ability to react to emerging
problems and complex cases.

o It is proposed to establish this position as a Senior Commander level position to

supervise five (5) units of the Major Crimes Division (as proposed under the
reorganization of Homicide) into multiple units:
▪ Homicide
▪ Robbery/Kidnapping
▪ Violent Crimes Against Persons
▪ Gang Unit
▪ Criminal Intelligence Unit.
o The position is necessary for the following reasons:
▪ The growing complex nature of investigations
▪ The potential and real phenomena of organizational silos that are often
inadvertently created
▪ More direct oversight at the administrative level to ensure multiple unit
resources are being properly distributed in emerging or long-term crime
problems.
▪ A direct contact with community members and groups who have concerns
or the ability to connect information to investigative units about cases being
investigated.

170
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 8.31 Proposed Span of Control of the Director of Strategic Criminal Intelligence &
Investigations

Sr. Commander
Director of Strategic
Criminal Intelligence &
Investigations
(1)

Commander Commander
Commander Commander Commander
Violent Crimes Against Gang Unit
Homicde Robbery/Kidnappng Criminal Intelligence Unit
Persons (1)
(1) (1) (1)
(1)

171
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Support Services and Administration Division Data Analysis 2019

Section 9.0 - Introduction

The scope of this section of the study is to accomplish the following:

• Describe unit and staff workloads

• Describe unit organization
• Describe unit staffing levels
• Identify workflow and structural problems
• Identify recommendations for process, workflow, and staffing issues or further research
needed

Section 9.1 – Division Organization

This section covers the Saint Paul Police Department’s Support Services Division. The Division is led by a
Deputy Chief, Executive Officer (Sergeant), and shares a 0.5 FTE Office Assistant. The administrative
team is responsible for the management of the division as shown below in Figure 9.1.

Figure 9.1 shows the division organization flow chart.

Figure 9.1

172
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.2 - Employee Assistance Program

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) consists of one (1) Sergeant rank program coordinator and is
assisted by a cadre of contracted psychologists working on a fee for service basis with our EAP program;
and a group of volunteer Peer Counselors who are SPPD members. The purpose and function of EAP
promotes the mental and emotional well-being of SPPD employees and their families by providing EAP
services and health education. The EAP follows strict confidentiality standards.

The EAP Director reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services. Table 9.21 shows a six (6) year budget
history of the unit.

Table 9.21 - Referral Data

KEY:

• (A) TOTAL referrals: all personal/agencies mandated and voluntary EAP utilization
• (B) SWORN voluntary: SPPD sworn voluntary EAP utilization only
• % SWORN: percent of SPPD sworn voluntary EAP utilization

*See “A” and “B” data below

Year Total Referral -Type A Total Referrals-Type B % of Sworn Staff

Referrals

2014* 90 47 UNK

2015 119 69 Data not kept

2016 163 86 15

2017 180 105 18

2018 160 106 18

2019** 96 67 18

*Partial data for 2014; *Sergeant assigned as EAP Director mid-year 2014;**Data is only for 6 months
for 2019

Data/Observations:
• EAP services are available to all employees (sworn and civilian) and their household family
members.
• Currently, SPPD has a voluntary EAP utilization by sworn personal at 18% or approximately 1-
in-5. For all industries, the national average EAP utilization is 3–6% (29).
• EAP Services include:
o 24-hour availability
o Private coaching from the EAP Director
o Professional counseling services with contracted licensed mental health
professionals/therapists
173
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

o Critical Incident response

o Support and/or referral to other resources as appropriate from the EAP Director or Peer
Support Team members

• The EAP Director is a sergeant who may or may not be a clinician/therapist. Note: Therapists are
licensed by the State and may provide therapeutic counseling and/or therapy. The interactions
that a non-clinician EAP Director provides could be described as coaching.
• The EAP Director oversees the police SPPD’s Peer Support Team. The EAP Director is assisted in
this role by a peer support team member who has been designated as the Peer Team
Coordinator. The Peer Team Coordinator is permitted to use up to 10% of his or her worktime
towards these duties.
• Peer Support Team members are volunteers to who have regular assignments within the police
SPPD and their own chain of command. When participating in peer support team related duties,
they are encouraged to consult the EAP Director or Peer Support Team Coordinator as needed.
• The only data shared by EAP is general information about the number of requests for EAP
service.

Types of Officer Distress Categories as classified by EAP (28)

Officers can experience a wide range of mental and emotional distress throughout their career.
This distress can often be sorted into one of three categories, with the understanding that
sometimes there are interrelated or co-occurring problems. The three categories can be used to
organize an agency’s thinking about officer distress and how best to respond, as well as actions
to take to prevent some problems.
1. Critical Incidents and Traumatic Events are work-related events that temporarily overwhelm
coping mechanisms.
2. General Mental and Emotional Distress are the range of psychological problems that all
humans may suffer.
3. Behavioral Health Crisis is a loss of psychological function required to do the work.

• Note about EAP data and utilization: Data regarding EAP use is stored on an Iron Key remote
hard drive with no connection to the SPPD or other network. The contents of Iron Key can only
be accessed by the current EAP Director and requires his finger print/swipe. The names of
people who have requested EAP services are deleted after one year. There is no printed
information that includes names or other identifying data. Furthermore, it is not the EAP Unit’s
goal that utilization reaches 100%. Not all staff need EAP services; however, all staff can benefit
from EAP outreach, education and confidence in a high functioning EAP. Increase utilization can
be viewed as a positive indication that help is being sought for mental and emotional distress,
and that the EAP Unit and the services it provides are accessible, trustworthy and beneficial.
However, increase EAP utilization could also be related to increased stress or other factors. (two
end notes)

174
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Risk Management Considerations:

• The SPPD has a long history of an EAP that is confidential for employees and their families. Law
enforcement personnel frequently deal in disorder as part of their duties, they need stable
ground on which to stand. Due to the stressors of police work, this type of service that is
confidential, is tailored to the needs of police officers and their loved ones, and can be
immediately accessed is essential for members of the SPPD.
• On-call status of EAP director is 24/7. There is no relief factor built into this position.

Recommendations:
• Continue the EAP Function within the SPPD with a sworn director/coordinator.
• Create a back-up system of on-call relief for the EAP director.
• Merge the EAP function and Peer Support function into a unit with the COAST Unit (listed in
Section 10 of this study) under the title of Behavioral Health Services Unit.

175
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.3 - Fleet and Radio Services Unit

The Fleet and Radio Services Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.31;

• Current personnel history is shown in Table 9.31;

The Fleet Sergeant reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and Administration.

Figure 9.31

Fleet Manager
Sergeant
(1)

Civilian Radio
Office Assistant
Shop Supervisor
(1)
(1)

Radio Technician
(5)

Table 9.3

Personnel Type # of Staff

Sergeant-Fleet 1
Manager

Civilian Radio Shop 1

Manager

Radio Technicians 5

Office Assistant III 1

Clerical

Total Staff 8

(Full-Time)

176
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations:

• The Saint Paul Police Department has a fleet of 550 vehicles. The vehicles are assigned
to individual units. Maintenance and repairs to vehicles is managed by the Fleet and
Radio Services Sergeant.
• The SPPD vehicle fleet is comprised of marked (black and white) squad cars and
unmarked vehicles.
• Each year, Fleet and Radio Services introduces about 30 marked patrol cars, 3 Sergeant
Patrol cars, 3 Investigator cars, and 3 Commander cars into the fleet.
• The average front line squad is driven over 3,000 miles per month.
• The Fleet manager is responsible for supervising the build-out of all cars for use in patrol
and investigations.
• The Fleet manager coordinates the repair of all "crashed vehicles" that need repair
from either the public safety garage (city department) or from an external vendor;
including covering the repair costs of other vehicles where SPPD is at-fault for the
accident as the City of Saint Paul is self-bonded for insurance.
• SPPD fleet vehicles are driven to very high mileage levels due to two (2) years where the
SPPD did not buy cars; thus creating an inability to rotate the fleet properly.
• SPPD is currently keeping front line squads in use over the 100,000 mile mark.
• Many back up cars have over 100,000 miles and repairs are very costly.
• Large training events (e.g.; Emergency Vehicle Training) place a large stress on the fleet,
as front-line squads must be taken out of the Patrol Districts to accommodate these
training sessions.
• The Sergeant/Fleet Manager is responsible for:
o Fleet rotation
o Ordering of new cars
o Performs administrative functions for forfeited and abandoned vehicles at the
Impound Lot.
o Creating replacement vehicle plans
o Supervise the Radio Services staff
o Working with the Public Safety Garage mechanics on SPPD squad repairs and
maintenance
o Dealing with body shop repair vendors
o Performs administrative functions with dealerships holding master state vehicle
purchasing contacts.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The SPPD has an aging fleet of vehicles which presents concerns in rising costs of older
vehicle maintenance, performance issues of emergency vehicles, and the lack of
updated safety features. Newer vehicles will provide more safety for employees and
community members.

177
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The volume of work placed on one manager of fleet operations, reduces the
opportunities for maximizing the value of the resale, scrap value, and vehicle turn
around due to only one person managing all fleet business operations.
Recommendations:

• Consider replacing the sworn fleet manager position with a civilian fleet management
specialist.
• Continue with the Fleet function within the SPPD. The size and scope of the work
integrates very specialized fleet needs that requires the coordination of multiple
departmental units (Fleet/Radio Services, Range Staff, Technology, and Video
Management) to integrate all the elements of a police squad car: radios, long gun
systems, in-car camera, and squad laptops.
• Add one civilian fleet management specialist to process all vehicle turnover issues.
• Eliminate vehicles from the fleet that have over 100,000 miles due to condition and
repair costs associated with them. The SPPD passes a price point between depreciating
value (resale) and repairs costs at this point.
• Expand budget to maintain a tiered fleet approach:
o Front line squads – first year of operation
o Secondary squads – second year of operation
o Tertiary squads – back up squads in 3-5 years of operation (not past 100,000
miles)

178
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.4 – Training Unit

The Training Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.41;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-20198 shown in Table 9.41;

The Training Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and Administration.

Figure 9.41 Training Unit

Commander
(1)

Sergeant Sergeant FTO Sergeant Sergeant

Sergeant Sergeant
Professional Program, EPIC Less Lethal, EVOC , In-Service Training & Office Assistant
Academy, RRA Program RRA Range Staff
Development Institute Background Unit (1)
(1) (1) (1) (1)
(1) (1)

Officers
Officers
Generalists
(4)
(4)

Training Unit Personnel 2013-2018

Table 9.41

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeant 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Officer 2 2 2 6 8 8 7

Civilian 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total Staff 10 10 10 14 16 16 15

179
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations:
• The Training Unit has the following responsibilities:
• POST Board Compliance: Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board is a state
licensing authority which requires the SPPD to maintain records for all licensure related
classes sworn staff attends inside or outside the agency that are accredited for POST
education credits for retention of licensed peace officer status in Minnesota. It is the
responsibility of the Training Unit to have accurate record keeping for all SPPD Officers
and for all training offered by SPPD.
• Professional Development Institute: Provides training to SPPD staff and to outside law
enforcement officers, which includes a catalog of year-round classes with a fee structure
for outside agency attendees.
• New Officer Academy: This function typically occurs once per year for a term of 4-5
months for new hire officer candidates. It is a 40 hour per week curriculum for the
entire academy term. Between 20-40 new officers attend one academy per year.
• RRA Training: This is a quarterly training curriculum that all sworn officers must attend
to review and learn the latest updates to use of force laws, techniques, and policy.
• CIT Program: The Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program is a 40-hour program that is
taught to all new Officers and is provided to existing staff at regular intervals.
• EVOC Program: Emergency Vehicle Operation Course is a state mandated program
provided to new officers and existing sworn staff to improve and maintain vehicle
handling skills.
• Field Training Officer (FTO) Program: FTO program is the phase of training new hires
attend after successfully passing the New Officer Academy. This is a 4-5-month program
of training and evaluation as a new police officer in the capacity of a patrol officer.
• Less Lethal Weapons: This is a program for all new and existing sworn staff that trains
use of force options in the following platforms: Taser, Pepperball, 40 mm, Aerosol
Chemicals, and other options as they develop.
• Skills Academy Accreditation: This is a program currently under development. The
program is a combination of recruitment and pre-service training for licensure and
employment as a police officer for SPPD. This program is geared toward recruitment of
people with a non-law enforcement educational background.
• In-Service Training: Curriculum that is developed on a regular basis to meet all
Minnesota state licensure requirements for maintaining a peace officer license for
sworn staff.
• Pistol and Rifle Training Program: This program is part of the New Officer Academy and
part of the continuing education and qualification for all sworn staff.
• Civilian Police Academy: This is an eight (8) week thirty-two (32) hour curriculum where
members of the public, along with members of the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review

180
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Commission (PCIARC), get an introduction and orientation to the functions of the SPPD
and an opportunity to learn some of the skills needed by police officers.

Table of Yearly Training Time and Staff Allocated

Table 9.42

Type of Training Hours of Staff Number of Staff Number of Hours of Student

Preparation Per Dedicated Students Hours of Training
Year Attending per Provided Per Year
year
Professional 3,140 hours 1.5 Varies Varies
Development Institute

New Officer Academy 480 hours 3 20-44 12,800-28,160

RRA Training 2,080 hours 2 600 9,600

CIT Program 360 1 80 3,200

EVOC 100 hours 1 200 1,600

(8-10 during
sessions)

FTO Program 160 hours 1 95 FTO’s 12,800-28,160

Pistol & Rifle Program 2,000 5 >600 7,200 pistol

1,600 rifle

Less Lethal Program 80 2 130 160

Skills Academy 2,080 2 N/A at this time N/A at this time

program in program in
Accreditation
development development

Continuing Educa8tion: 480 hours 1 600+ 12,000

In-Service Training

P.O.S.T. Board Licensure 2,080 hours 1 NA NA

Compliance

Civilian Police Academy 40 hours 1 48-160 1,536-5,120

181
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The Training Unit staff have multiple sessions of training going on at one time almost every day
of the work week.
• For 30 years, the average police officer at the Saint Paul Police Department was only required to
have 12 hours of firearms training each year and 8 hours of in-service training each year,
totaling only 20 hours of mandatory training per year.
• The amount of state mandates and community expectations for staff training now exceed what
can be done in 20 hours of in-service training per year.
• Several types of training now being mandated are new additions to SPPD curriculum. This is a
result of community input, state regulation, and industry standards. As an example: in the last
three (3) years, the SPPD has instituted RRA training as a result of a policy change developed
with community collaboration. This has precipitated the need for 26-32 training sessions to
process the entire SPPD each quarter, translating into over 120 sessions of training for just RRA
per year.
• The amount of re-certification training that occurs each year has increased in the last 3-4 years
with the introduction of more less lethal options, RRA, and CIT.
• The previous standard for average in-service training for an officer was 20 hours per year.
• The current training standard has added 24 hours of new training per year per officer.
• The current minimum in-service training for an officer is 44 hours per year. This is a 120%
increase in just the past 3 years.
• An ad hoc program is done with the non-sworn recruit programs of Parking Enforcement
Officers, Community Liaison Officers, and LECPA students to engage them in skills development
and physical training.
• The current level of civilian office staff (1 person) requires that unit trainers (sworn staff) must
participate in the clerical accounting of staff training to ensure all records compliant with
Minnesota P.O.S.T. Board requirements.
• The unit would like to do more work to build competencies of current and future supervisors
with appropriate time for development and administrative support to accomplish program.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The Training Unit staff time is highly taxed. Officer wellness is a concern given the high level of
activity across the unit.
• The Training Unit has a responsibility for keeping accurate and complete compliance records for
state licensure for all staff; high level of compliance exposure for the SPPD in this area.
• Increased workloads that will cause need for additional staff from four (4) sources:
o State mandates.
o Community standards/expectations.
o New technologies that require initial and continuing training for staff.
o New programming creating paths to employment that expand the pool of potential
employees from diverse communities.
182
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Proper timing of staff turnover in unit is necessary to capture training knowledge and expertise.

Recommendations:
• Establish plans for legacy planning that have administrative support for having two (2) or more
people in place with subject matter status on all Training Unit programs.
• Continue to increase scenario-based training to better reflect real circumstances Officers face at
work when dealing with persons in crisis and use of force applications; this includes the
continual training of less-lethal options (these options are growing due to the number of less-
lethal products entering the market).
• Establish an internal program that builds leadership competencies in personal introspection,
philosophy, and skills to cultivate people for future thinking and preparation for leadership roles
in the SPPD and open to sworn and civilian staff who have an interest in exploring leadership
roles in their career.
• Create a Sergeant Leadership Training program (see below section for expanded explanation)
• Establish an Investigator Training program (see below section for expanded explanation)
• The addition of one (1) Office Assistant. The purpose of this position would be to absorb the
accounting of all the MN POST Board mandates and licensing requirements for the SPPD.
• Add one (1) Officer position as a full-time less-lethal options trainer.
• Add one (1) Sergeant and two (2) Officers. This is contingent on the concept of two police
academies per year being established. Instituting continuous academies will aid the SPPD in
avoiding “feast or famine” cycles it experiences in staffing. However, two (2) academies per year
translates into almost ten (10) months of academy training; requiring a full-time staff to
accommodate this plan.

Below are two (2) sub-sections regarding training for general supervision and investigators.

Training for Staff Promoted to Sergeant

The SPPD regularly promotes to the rank of Sergeant. The assignment of newly appointed Sergeants
varies widely upon promotion. Some of duty types are as follows:

• Patrol Sergeant
• Major Crimes Investigator
• District Investigator
• Traffic & Accident Investigator
• Technology Unit

For those appointed to Patrol Sergeant or other direct supervision positions, they are expected to
supervise groups of 8-20 police officers and/or civilian employees in a district/unit environment. These
Sergeants have widely varying assignments from highly technical positions, investigative units, or patrol
operations; and each Sergeant has the positional authority and the expectation that at a moment’s

183
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

notice to direct resources, supervise subordinates, ensure good customer service, and make
administrative decisions affecting the operation of SPPD.

Data/Observations:
The SPPD has an inconsistent approach to supervisory training for people newly promoted to the rank of
Sergeant. In the last generation of SPPD training, documentation exists about two separate time periods
in 2006 and 2015 where training has been delivered to first line supervisors who had recently been
promoted (18). In both instances, the training was not sustained for more than one group of new
supervisors; and was initiated based on personalities willing to commit their personal time and
resources to developing and delivering supervisory training.

In my interviews with staff, most said that they received very little or no training when becoming a
Sergeant or Commander. There was no distinction between those who were assigned to investigations,
operations, or support services. Many have said that in addition to not getting any formal training, they
received little or none “on-the-job” training in the type of work they were assigned. Some units had
Field Training Officer (FTO) manuals in their units, but they were often out of date. Most supervisors
said they were left to figure things out on their own; and it has caused them to be inefficient and less
effective, especially in the early stages of a new assignment.

The common theme is that no formalized processes exist to pass on job knowledge between the person
vacating a position and the one entering a job. No overlap or plan is in place to capture knowledge and
provide information about the position between people leaving a position and those new to the
assignment.

Risk Management Considerations:

The SPPD has a large pool of potential talent to draw from when it promotes people to Sergeant.
However, the lack of formalized training and enculturation of supervisors leads to the following risk
management concerns:

• Lack of knowledge transfer between staff leads to inefficiency and ineffectiveness as either
supervisors or investigators.
• May create a lack of due diligence or understanding about responsibilities to City of Saint Paul
policy, SPPD policy, FLSA, HIPPA, OSHA, and other federal, state, and local accountability
standards that affect the decision-making process to problems faced by supervisors.
• Allows for errors to occur either in investigations or in supervision due to a lack of basic
knowledge about the skills needed to do successfully execute the duties of their position.
• Reduces the potential opportunities the organization has for enculturing sergeants with the
vision, mission, and values of the organization.
• Misses an opportunity to formally give people tools to implement SPPD philosophy in the daily
work of supervision.
• Opens the SPPD for liability for lack of training of supervisors and investigators.

184
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Recommendations:
Sergeant training must be institutionalized as part of the human resource cycle during a promotional
process within the SPPD. As a result, the following is recommended:

General Sergeants Training

• This training should be scheduled when a promotional process begins.

• Training should include all new Sergeants promoted off a civil service list and all candidates that
may be reached during the duration of a sergeants’ promotions list. This becomes a projection
that may result in the training of some candidates who are not promoted.

General Sergeants Training should have the following layered characteristics:

1. Organizational Philosophy, Mission, Vision, & Values, Strategic Thinking

a. Introduction of administration’s philosophy and approach to SPPD supervision and the
role of the supervisor in the organization.
b. Illustrate how to communicate and reinforce the mission of the SPPD “Protect the
peace and maintain public safety through trusted service with respect” in everything
they do as a supervisor.
c. Discussion of Mission, Vision, and Values and how Sergeants affect them in their
everyday work.
d. Strategic thinking of the SPPD and how Sergeants positively affect outcomes.
2. Operational aspects, functionality of supervision, tactics and strategies, techniques, policy and
procedure.
a. Presentations and discussions about the functions of supervision.
b. Studying personal interactions and how to lead others.
c. Personality inventories about self-as-supervisor and how to positively affect outcomes
with staff.
d. Followership and expectations of a supervisor as a representative of administration.
e. Effects of policy and procedure on supervision.
3. Technical, Employment Law, Regulatory, Policy & Procedure.
a. Technical parts of supervision including TASS, RMS, and other programs used by
supervisors.
b. Review of employment law as a supervisor.
c. Regulatory issues faced by supervisors including OSHA reporting and risk management.
d. Policy and Procedure issues that supervisors handle on a regular basis; as well as high
risk issues that occur less frequently.

185
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Figure 9.42

Supervisory Training

Organizational Philosophy, Mission,

Vision, & Values, Strategic Thinking

Operational aspects, Techniques, Strategies,

Policy & Procedure

Technical, Employment Law, Regulatory,

Policy & Procedure

4. Create a rotation of new and existing sergeants to attend outside programs

a. Law enforcement programs, like those offered by the MN Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension’s Supervision and Management and Leadership in Police Organizations
(LPO) programs, are opportunities to expose our first line supervisors to peers from
other agencies and experience instructors from a broad spectrum of backgrounds that
can continue to add value and perspective to their practice of leadership within the
organization.

186
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Sergeant Training for Investigations

Data/Observations:
A reoccurring theme in many interviews with Commanders and Sergeants involved the lack of formal
training and transition for Officers promoted to the rank of Sergeant in investigations. According to
staff, there is little formal training associated with entering an investigative unit. Often, there is a Field
Training manual to be used by the new investigator, but manuals are often out of date or do not have
information that will provide a new investigator the direction on workflow associated with the caseloads
they are accountable for completing.

Some new Investigative Sergeants have previous experience as an Officer working in an investigative
unit (e.g.; Gang Unit, Family Violence Unit, etc.). However, this previous experience may not prepare
them for the role of a Sergeant Investigator due contractual restrictions on Officers in investigative
units. When Sergeant Investigators receive training is given it is usually after a person has been in an
investigative unit for a substantial period of time.

Risk Management Considerations:

The lack of consistent training for new investigators has several potential outcomes:

a. Inability to solve cases

b. Lack of efficiency as a new investigator
c. Potential for media relations issues
d. Inability to meet charging attorney thresholds for pursuing a case
e. Mismanagement of cases
f. Not meeting the mission of the agency
g. Violations of suspect rights
h. Inadequate advocacy for victims

Recommendations:
When a new Sergeant Investigator is assigned to a unit, the following needs to occur:

1. Accommodations for New Investigators

a. A formal Field Training process adhered to and supervised by the unit commander.
b. An up-to-date Field Training manual made available to new Investigators.
c. A digital step-by-step process that “blueprints” the work flow, necessary forms, charging
documents, and points of contact for case management for each major type of case handled by
an investigative unit.
d. Overlap transfers to provide training and orientation between incoming and outgoing Sergeants
between assignments (e.g.; 1-2 week period of transition with both Sergeants working together
in the assignment)

187
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

2. Investigator Training

The SPPD should institute an annualized training schedule for the training of new and existing
investigators. This should include a minimum level of training that new investigators must attend during
their first year assigned to an investigations position.

Sergeant Investigator training should include the following:

• Constitutional Law
• Case Law
• Civil and Criminal Liability for Misfeasance/Malfeasance
• Interviewing Skills
• Search Warrant Writing/Execution
• Investigative Writing Skills
• Case Management
• Management/Disposal of Evidence
• Crime Scene Processing
• Crime Scene Management

**Additionally, Police Officers that are assigned to investigative units should also be mandated to attend
this training cycle. It provides them with an excellent baseline of new skills that they can take to other
Police Officer rank assignments and/or will give them the training necessary if promoted to the position
of Investigative Sergeant.

188
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

3. Cycle of Training

The below diagram depicts a recommended yearly cycle of training classes to be offered for a core
curriculum for new investigators. As a result, no matter when a sergeant is assigned to investigations,
the SPPD will be able to provide basic coursework needed by new investigators during their first year as
an investigator.

Figure 9.43

Yearly Cycle of Investigative Training

(one course occurs every 4-6 weeks on a yearly schedule)

189
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.5 – Impound Lot

The Impound Lot Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.51;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.51;

The Impound Lot Manager reports to the Commander of Property & Evidence. This Commander reports
to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and Administration.

Figure 9.51

Impound Lot Manager

Civilian
(1)

Property Clerks
Afternoon Supervisor
Civilian Office Assistant
Civilian
(6) - Full Time (1)
(1)
(5) Part Time

The Impound Lot Unit is a sub-unit of Property & Evidence. The role of this unit within the SPPD is to
manage the Enterprise Fund as a city owned operation that does in-take, storage, release, and billing
regarding vehicles impounded by the Saint Paul Police Department located on Barge Channel Road in
Saint Paul.

The Impound Lot Unit also serves this same function for the Snow Emergency System of the City of Saint
Paul which is run by Saint Paul Public Works. During Snow Emergencies, the Impound Lot staff opens a
temporary Snow Lot for impounded vehicles which is an area rented to the City by the Minnesota State
Fair on Como Avenue in Saint Paul.

190
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 9.51

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Civilian Manager 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Afternoon Supervisor 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Property Clerks 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Property Clerks 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

(part-time
permanent)

Property Clerks 20-35 20-35 20-35 20-35 20-35 20-35 20-35

(part-time
temporary/seasonal
for snow
emergencies)

Office Assistant III 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Clerical

Total Staff 14 14 14 14 14 14 14

Data/Observations:

• Impound Lot operations are open to the public from 8 AM to 10 PM daily.

• Impound Lot staff are on-site 24 hours per day/7 days a week for in-take of towed vehicles
impounded by police employees.
• During Snow Emergencies declared by the City: The Snow Emergency Lot on Como Avenue and
the Impound Lot on Barge Channel Road are both open to public 24 hours per day for a 96-hour
period.
• The building at the Impound Lot on Barge Channel Road is owned by SPPD and the property is
leased to the SPPD by the Saint Paul Port Authority.
• The Saint Paul Port Authority (as lease holder) does not provide improvements to the surface lot
or the secure fence line at the Impound Lot on Barge Channel Road.
• The lot location is less desirable due to the threat of flooding from high river levels. The lot has
been evacuated every few years due to high water levels. The threat is primarily at the entrance
to the lot which is cutoff during high water.
• The building at the main Impound Lot is of very poor quality, not ADA compliant with the
customer office at the top of a staircase, and needs serious improvements to bathrooms,

191
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

customer entrance, staff workspace, etc. Past plans for improvements exist, but none have
been acted upon.
• The vehicle storage garage space is lacking the space needed for incoming vehicles needing to
be processed. With more forensic work being done by investigations, more space and time for
each vehicle is needed. Currently, work must be rushed to keep bays open for new incoming
evidentiary vehicles.
• The camera system at the Impound Lot which monitors the fencing and interior of lot needs
replacement.
• The Impound lot does experience breaches of the fence line with cars broken into multiple times
each year.
• The camera system at the Impound Lot is older technology; and is often the only way to
determine what is occurring on the exterior lines of property.
• The manager and night supervisor of the Impound Lot have served in the unit for many years
and have processes in place for dealing with many types problems that occur within the
operation (e.g.; problem customers, snow emergencies, lot flooding)
• There has been a long-term loss of two full-time Property Clerks; one in 2009 and another in
2012. These were due to staff attrition and never replaced with full-time staff and vacancies
have been covered with part-time staff. The Impound Lot manager would like to convert the
part-time positions into full-time positions using the same amount of staffing budget. Using
part-time Property Clerks sometimes causes scheduling problems due to conflicts with other
employment held by these employees.

Risk Management Factors:

• Tow lot operations deal with vehicles which are the largest or second largest asset most people
own; as a result, staff deal with some people who are very upset. Customer service must remain
at the highest levels in this SPPD operation.
• Impounded vehicles are the responsibility of the SPPD. The SPPD must make regular evaluations
of the Impound Lot for security of vehicles stored on site.
• Diminishing revenue from snow emergencies should be examined to see what efficiencies or
policy changes could occur to reduce expenses.

Recommendations:
• Renovation of the existing building or construction of a replacement building for compliance
with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), provide decent workspace and storage for
employees, and provide building storage and more interior vehicle storage for evidentiary
vehicles.
• Install a new fence to improve site security at the Impound Lot on Barge Channel Road.

192
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Install a new surveillance camera system is needed to improve security monitoring is needed at
the Barge Channel Road site.
• Revisit the role of the SPPD in Snow Emergencies; does the City need the SPPD’s involvement in
a public works function?
• Continue with civilian management of Impound Lot. This is an area where sworn staff are
unnecessary to carry out the function.
• Add two (2) full-time Property Clerks to stabilize scheduling that currently relies on part-time
availability. This should be done by reducing the number of part-time property clerks and
converting existing staff budget dollars to pay for full-time clerks. This is a revenue neutral
adjustment.

193
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.6 – Property and Evidence Unit

The Property and Evidence Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.61;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.61;

The Property and Evidence Unit (PEU) has the following organizational structure shown in Figure 9.61
and Table 9.61 shows the history of personnel assigned the unit from 2013-2019. The PEU Sergeant
reports to the Property & Records Commander who reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services.

Figure 9.61 – Property and Evidence Unit

Commander
(1)

Sergeant
(1)

Photo Lab
Property Clerks
Technician
(4.5)
(1)

Table 9.61

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Sergeants 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Property Clerk 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

Photo Lab 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Technician

Total Staff 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5

The Property & Evidence Unit is responsible for the intake, management, and disposal of all criminal
evidence and recovered property handled by the SPPD.

Data/Observations:

• The staff of the unit consists of a Police Sergeant, four (4) full time Property Clerks, one (1) part-
time Property Clerk, and one (1) Photo Lab Technician.
• The unit is scheduled to work a week day schedule during business hours.
• Photo lab technician has a “good” workload at the current time and is used by the entire agency
for printing/photo skills.
194
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The PEU staff are subject to callback on overtime for major incidents, (i.e.; Homicides)
• The PEU staff are willing to respond for call-backs concerning major crime scenes to enter
evidence and empty the property locker bank on weekends when no open lockers are available.
• The unit staff collect all evidence placed in all SPPD evidence lockers and catalogs items.
• The unit is responsible for front counter traffic at their office for people claiming property or to
return disposed evidence.
• The unit has three (3) small evidence drop boxes at East, Central, and Western Districts to
collect smaller items and prevent staff from always having to drive to Headquarters to deliver
evidence.
• A major issue for temporary storage is property taken from prisoners being booked into the
Ramsey County Jail. The Jail does not take personal property, therefore creating a large amount
of property that must be managed and ultimately disposed of by the PEU staff.
• Evidence Manager is a program that uses a bar code system that was fully implemented in 2016
to track evidence and property held by the SPPD. This has been a very successful system
according to unit staff. The current contract with Evidence Manager software expires in 2020.
• PEU staff has made changes to storage systems in recent years and eliminated some outdated
storage systems.
• Current glass and barrier systems need upgrading due to the fragility of these barriers as the
unit does get combative visitors at their front counter operation.
• Camera system for the unit was installed at the time of the building opening in 2003 and is of
low quality.
• Currently, PEU is working towards accreditation through the International Association of
Property and Evidence (IAPE).
• Accreditation planning has consisted of applying the standards to the practices of the SPPD
Property Room. A visit from IAPE is being planned for 2020 to achieve accreditation.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The proper tracking of items, management of space, and compliance with state law and SPPD
policy in the process of disposal or return of property and evidence is critical to effective unit
operation.
• Critical to the function of this unit is accountability for money, guns, drugs, and valuable
property. Staff in this function must be beyond reproach in their work. Recruitment and
evaluation of these employees is of extreme importance.
• Audits of Property & Evidence from within the unit and by Inspections on a regular basis is
essential.
• Making sure that decisions are made about the future contracting with or replacement of
Evidence Manager should be done well in advance of a contract expiration in 2020.
• Retention of staff for institutional continuity.

195
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Recommendations:

• Continue to retain Evidence Manager as the management software for PEU, unless a strategic
decision is made, and institutional support is provided for such a significant software change.
• Upgrade glass and barriers in the lobby area of the Property Room for more security of non-
sworn staff.
• Potentially look at barrier door in the main lobby of Headquarters to “buzz access” to the
elevators for better control going to the Property Room or Records Unit.
• Upgrade to a new camera system for surveillance of facility.
• Continue to plan for compliance with the IAPE accreditation standards.
• Continue with 4.5 Property Clerks for unit.
• Consider a change to a civilian Supervisor of unit, thus displacing the current Sergeant within the
unit. Police Sergeants are prone to rotating out of positions and there is a need for long-term
consistency at a supervisory level.

196
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.7 – Records Unit

The Records Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.71;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.71;

The Property & Records Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and
Administration.

Figure 9.71 – Records Unit

Commander
Property & Records
(1)

Records Supervisor
(1)

Review Officers
(5)

Office Assistant II Office Assistant III

(??) (1)

Table 9.71

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Records Supervisor 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Review Officer 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Office Assistant II 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2

Office Assistant III 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Total Staff 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.2

Data/Observations:
• The Records Unit handles approval of reports, routing of case reports to units for investigation,
special data practice reviews of reports, internal/external requests for reports, and public data
requests for police reports.

197
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The Review Officers review all SPPD reports, and either approve or reject each report for
content. Review officer position manages a constant stream of reports entering the records
management system (RMS), creating a demanding pace of work.
• The Records Unit has five (5) Review Officers. This is not enough Review Officers to cover the
position 24/7. As a result, part-time help and overtime must be used cover normal hours of
operation, vacation, and sick calls.
• Office Assistants II and III work on redaction of reports, in-house report management, and work
on walk up public desk service.
• Currently, public access is granted from 8 AM to 4:30 PM. This has been a change for the
Records Unit where previously there were also late evening and Saturday hours. Walk up
service, by its nature, interrupts Office Assistants II and III while working on other tasks. This has
been a positive change for staff.
• The current use of secure email to City Attorney’s Office to send reports has been a good time
saving measure. The previous method required the packaging of printed reports for delivery to
the City Attorney’s Office.
• The current on-line reporting system has an Investigative Sergeant screening and reviewing
reports submitted by the public on-line out of West District Investigations. This has been a good
workflow change for the Records Unit. It has removed some initial report review from Records
staff.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Avoid drops in unit staffing levels; this will help employee wellness in this unit which has a high
daily volume of reports to process.
• Minnesota data practice laws must be understood by all unit members and continuing
education on these laws must be done.
• Communication with all staff is an important element in any 24-hour operation. Mechanisms
must be in place to make sure of consistent communication to all unit members of this unit
which runs 24/7.

Recommendations:
• Add one (1) Review Officer to cover the position 24/7. This will eliminate overtime and
scheduling problems for the position.
• Create a “quality circle” for the continuous improvement of the report writing system and the
records management system used by the SPPD. This would include the Records Unit,
Technology Unit, Investigations, and Patrol Operations.

198
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.8 – Human Resources Unit

The Human Resources Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.81;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.81;

The Human Resource Unit manager reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and Administration.

Figure 9.81 – Human Resources Unit

Human Resource
Consultant
(civilian manager)
(1)

Officers
Office Assistant IV Office Assistant III
Background Unit
(1) (1)
(3)

Table 9.81

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Human Resource 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Manager

Office Assistant IV 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Office Assistant III 0 0 1 1 1 1 1

Payroll Clerk 3 3 0 0 0 0 0

Officers 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Total Staff 5 5 3 3 3 3 6

The Human Resource Unit has responsibility for acting on behalf of the City of Saint Paul as liaison
between the SPPD and the City government’s Human Resource Department. Several years ago, the
City’s Human Resource Department made it a requirement that the SPPD employ a civilian Human
Resource Consultant as unit head.

199
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations:
• The following are the major items with administrative accountability within the Human
Resource Unit:
o All hiring process administration
o All employee retention administration
o Management of employee transfers
o Tracking of all employee discipline
o Administering all testing processes for new employment and promotions
o Updating PERS database for employee information
o Creation of identification cards for employees
o Providing information to administration and employees about medial leaves of absence
o Personnel Evaluations
o Management of Personnel Files
o Worker’s Compensation administration and compliance
o Coordination of Commendation Review Board
o Officer of the Year Banquet
o Point of Contact of TASS Payroll System
o Accommodation Coordinator
• The Human Resource Unit has a very interconnected work flow with the Training Unit,
Background Unit, Payroll function, and Police Administration.
• The unit prevents many potential workplace violations that may otherwise occur due to lack of
familiarity or regular application of many different state and federal work regulations.
• The unit lost three (3) Payroll Clerks in 2015 due to the centralization of the City’s payroll
function. One (1) OA III was put in place at that time to assist with unit functions that the
payroll staff had handled. However, the Human Resource Unit still functions as the SPPD’s SME
on the TASS payroll system and the Employee Self-Service system (ESS).
• There is a reorganization currently occurring with the Background Unit, where it is supposed to
report to Human Resources. It is unclear how this workflow is going to work as it is still under
development by administration. It appears Backgrounds will have reporting responsibility to
Support Services Executive Officer and the Human Resource Unit will be a consultant to the
Background process for employees and volunteers.
• Physical secure storage space has been a long-time concern for the unit due to the sensitive
nature of personnel files. Personnel files have a long retention schedule and are being scanned
over time into a digital format. This process is reducing the footprint needed for physical
storage at this time. A concern will be if Background files need to move into the Human
Resource space. There is currently to ability to accommodate these files if during unit mergers,
those files migrate to Human Resources.
• There is a permissions process which occurs when someone transfers to a new unit where
digital permissions are changed by the City’s central Office of Technology (OTC). A form called
200
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

the “Tech Form” is used by the Human Resource Unit to generate these permissions changes
and it is used by OTC and the SPPD’s Technology Unit. Currently, according to interviews with
staff, there are process problems with this form; and communication over how to fix it has
broken down between the SPPD’s Technology Unit and City OTC.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Important to have highly relational people in this unit since every unit and person in the SPPD
interacts with this unit. A negative change in personnel in the unit could have a very deleterious
effect on the SPPD’s functionality.
• Confidentiality continues to be extremely important due to the very sensitive nature of the
records and requests the unit handles.

Recommendations:
• SPPD should address the Tech Form issue. The technical nature of this problem is
difficult to express in this format; however, a lot of repetitive work is done on a regular
basis due to the lack of proper authorizations and timing around them that could be
accomplished if different city departments could troubleshoot the problem together.
• Add a 0.5 FTE to assist in the management of the high number of requests for
information and assistance in digital systems used by employees. While the 1.0 FTE for
payroll was removed from the unit in 2015, TASS as the replacement system still
requires the unit to assist in troubleshooting and reporting. TASS, along with other
digital systems, require SME assistance of a broad range of staff from across the SPPD.

201
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.9 – Forensic Services Unit

The Forensic Services Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.91;

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.91;

The Forensic Services Unit civilian manager reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and
Administration.

Figure 9.91 – Forensic Services Unit

Laboratory Director
(civilian manager)
(1)

Sergeant
Sergeant
Crash Reconstruction & Crime Office Assistant III Forensic Scientist II
Crime Scene Specialist Supervisor
Scenes (1) (1)
(1)
(1)

Crime Scene/Lab
Forensic Scientist I
Officer
Civilian
(6)
(3)

202
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 9.91

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Director 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeants 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Crime Scene 3-4 3-4 5 5 4 4 6

Technician Officer

Civ. Forensic 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
Scientist III

Civ. Forensic 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
Scientist II

Civ. Forensic 1 1 1 1 2 3 3
Scientist I

Office Assistant 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total Staff 9 9 11 11 12 12 14

Data/Observations:
• In 2013, the unit previously known as the Crime Lab began a transformation from a decades old
system of operation to a new Forensic Services Unit. This process included a full audit and set of
recommendations to change the field and lab services and the hiring of a civilian Director with a
broad background in forensic lab services and management.
• The FSU Director acts as the quality assurance manager and is credentialed for this role.
• Quality Assurance is very time consuming and does not allow the Director to manage the unit on
a daily basis.
• The SPPD is currently working on a plan to hire a Quality Assurance manager in the next year;
not currently funding for this position.
• Currently, there are two (2) Sergeants who work in FSU. One has responsibility for the
supervision of the FSU crime scene technicians (Officers/Civilians) and the other is an SME in
Crash Reconstruction, Crime Scene collection, and is the backup to the other Sergeant who does
most of the unit supervision.
• From 2015-2017, the unit had a Forensic Scientist III. That person left the SPPD and the Lab
Director has absorbed those duties until current employees have enough experience to compete
for the position.
• Currently, any Officer who is brought into FSU is expected to have a five-year commitment to
the unit due to the training and experiential learning curves involved in this work.
• All new staff are trained in the following areas under the listed time tables:
203
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

o DNA Collection (2-3 months)

o Latent Fingerprint Processing (2-3 months)
o Crime Scene Response (1 month)
o Crime Scene Photography (1 month)
• Latent Print Examiner qualification has been reached by three (3) members of the staff.
• All training programs are internal. It is a mix of online programs and practicums with certified
staff and signed off by a Sergeant supervisor.
• While work schedules are based on an eight (8) hour day, all staff typically work a (10) hour day
due to workload.
• An additional workload has been placed upon the unit with the NIBIN program. NIBIN is the
National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. It was created by the ATF, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, in 1999. It is a database of digital 2D and 3D images
of marking found on casing and bullets recovered from crime scenes or from confiscated
weapons test-fired in a lab. The SPPD’s NIBIN program also swabs for DNA in every NIBIN case.
• A NIBIN technician has been hired as part of a three (3) year federal grant for the NIBIN
program.
• The NIBIN program has increased the SPPD’s DNA caseload by 140%.
• The current staff are very motivated to do a good job; however, the Director is concerned with
burnout of employees due to the long workdays.
• Crime scene response creates additional stress on staff time, as they often happen in the
evening after the normal workday.
• Crime scenes necessitate a lot of additional follow up processing in the lab which must happen
immediately following a case. One phenomenon they have experienced is multiple shootings in
the matter of a day or couple of days, which does not allow for lab processing to be completed
before having to go out to collect a new crime scene.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Continual internal and external process improvement evaluation is needed for crime labs.
• Working on accreditation renewal cycles has supported as a continual process for lab credibility.
• The volume of work handled by lab employees needs to be monitored to make sure that
employee stress/burn-out does not occur.

Recommendations:
• Add one (1) Quality Assurance Manager to work on the accreditation process and make sure
FSU methods and procedures meet national laboratory standards.
• Future hires in unit should be civilian employees due to the turnover of sworn staff.
• Due to space requirements, this unit needs to either relocate or take over space on their current
floor. Space for lab staff and equipment is completely used.

204
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.92 – Technology Unit

The Technology Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.92(1);

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.92(1);

The Technology Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and Administration.

Figure 9.92(1) – Technology Unit

Commander
(1)

Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant

Office Assistant IV
Crime Analysis CCTV Special Projects Video Management
(1)
(1) (1) (1) (1)

Officers Civilian Video

Crime Analysts
CCTV Technicians
(4)
(3) (5)

Table 9.92(1)

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Commander 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sergeants 2 3 3 3 3 3 3

Officers 6 3 3 3 3 4 5

Crime Analysts 1 1 2 2 2 3 3-4

Technology 6 3 3 3 3 3 2
Specialists

Video Technicians 0 0 0 0 2 4 5

Office Assistant 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total Staff 17 12 13 13 15 19 21

Data/Observations:
• The Technology Unit has experienced several iterations over time. Prior to 2009, the entire staff
was employed directly by the Saint Paul Police Department. Until 2007, a Commander had been

205
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

assigned to manage the Technology Unit, however that a civilian manager was hired and
managed the unit until 2009. In 2009, a citywide technology consolidation occurred and the
SPPD’s civilian manager and about 50% of the staff were moved to the City’s OTC offices at City
Hall. The consolidation left many gaps in service, in concert with growth in Closed Circuit
Television (CCTV) responsibilities, In-Car Cameras, and many other IT concerns not being
addressed with the speed or priority necessary for the SPPD. As a result, the SPPD installed a
Technology Unit Commander in 2009 and began moving Police Officers and Sergeants into
technology roles.

Currently, the Technology Unit staff is comprised of the following areas of responsibility:

o Crime Analysis: This group is led by a Sergeant and four (4) civilian analysts. The
analysts have a significant level of training and experience in developing and analyzing
data. Their main jobs in the unit focus on creating reports for the administrative team,
developing data set reports and analysis for unit commanders, and special projects
about SPPD efficiency and effectiveness.
o Video Management Unit: This group is led by one (1) Sergeant and staffed with five (5)
Video Technicians. This unit is responsible for managing the in-car camera and body
worn camera systems and the back-end storage requirements of these systems as
stipulated in SPPD policy.
o CCTV: The group is led by a Sergeant and staffed with three (3) Officers. Two (2)
Officers serve on Tour II and one (1) on Tour III. They manage the SPPD’s mobile CCTV
camera platforms, monitor CCTV cameras in the Real Time Information Center that is
co-managed by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, and create password packets and
grant permissions for new staff and staff transferring from one unit to another.
o Office Assistant IV & Special Projects Sergeant: These two staff members work on an
assorted number of technology projects that include management of current systems,
creating new computer management packages our of existing software platforms,
programming, and other surge capacity duties as needed by the SPPD.
o Service Technicians: These are three (3) technician positions paid for by OTC to provide
technical assistance for the Helpdesk function, install new computers, and provide
continuing maintenance to our systems.
• Currently, there is a good relationship and shared project management responsibilities with OTC
for large projects or areas where significant expertise is needed in SPPD technology needs.
• OTC provides three (3) on-site service technicians who provide service for desktop, laptop, and
many other maintenance and new installations needs for the SPPD.
• The unit meets monthly, or more often if needed, in a project management meeting with OTC to
discuss projects and SPPD needs. These meetings are essential to good communication about
mutual expectations and responsibilities.

206
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• On-site Service Technicians add a lot of value for their responsiveness and knowledge of systems
they install, maintain, and replace.
• The Technology Unit commander is assigned from our law enforcement trained cadre of
command staff and brings no specific technology related expertise to the position.
• The Sergeants and Officers bring varying levels of technical experience to the unit. However,
most of their knowledge is self-taught and none have a formal technical education that
predated their law enforcement careers.
• The four (4) civilian analysts within the unit have significant experience. A lot of their time
currently gets co-mingled with many different types of SPPD document preparation, external
data requests, and intelligence analysis. The “mixed bag” approach that their jobs created
inefficiencies with time.
• The crime analysts true “intelligence & analysis” function would be better leveraged if some of
them were tied directly to key Major Crimes division units of the SPPD.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Having a high functioning teams in-place in the Technology Unit and OTC to maintain and build
systems that protect the City’s network and sensitive databases is a continual concern and real
threat to the community.
• Security of data systems is a high priority given the sensitive nature of the data we possess on
behalf of victims.
• The high number of videos the SPPD must store, and the reliance on them for evidence and
accountability, makes the video management function of technology unit extremely important
to work well.

Recommendations:

• The current unit needs significant restructuring to reduce per employee costs and to bring more
staff with formal technological training into the unit.
• Eliminate the Commander position in the Technology Unit. This is a management position that
should be staffed with a civilian manager with a technology management/project management
background. The Commander position should be redeployed to another role in the organization.
• Eliminate three (3) Sergeants within the Technology Unit and replace them with civilian subject
matter experts within the fields of crime analysis, CCTV, and project
management/programming. Current Sergeants should be redeployed to investigations or police
operations.
• Eliminate all three (3) Officer positions within CCTV. Replace them with service technicians or
video technicians. The Officer positions should be redeployed to police operations.
• Retain the one (1) Sergeant in Video Management due to the continual interface with the
SPPD’s sworn staff on the maintenance and accountability regarding BWC’s and ICC’s.

207
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Reassign two (2) crime analysts from the Technology Unit to the Intelligence Unit
(recommendation of new unit in Major Crimes section of this study) to focus their work solely
on criminal intelligence analysis.
• Retain two (2) crime analysts to perform data mining and prepare documents requested by
SPPD units, command staff, and external partners.

208
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 9.93 - Building Maintenance Unit

The Building Maintenance Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 9.93(1);

• Seven (7) year personnel history from 2013-2019 shown in Table 9.93(1);

The Building Maintenance Supervisor reports to the Deputy Chief of Support Services and
Administration.

Figure 9.93(1) – Building Maintenance Unit

Building Maintenance
Supervisor
(1)

Engineer III
(1)

Custodian Engineer Maintenance

Custodian II
II Mechanic
(3)
(4) (1)

Table 9.93(1)

Personnel Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Building 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Maintenance
Supervisor

Engineer III 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Custodian/Engineer 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
II

Maintenance 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mechanic

Custodian II 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Total Staff 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

209
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations:
• The Building Maintenance staff are responsible for fifteen (15) different buildings for
maintenance and repair in Saint Paul and Maplewood; locations are:
o 367 Grove Street – Headquarters
o 388 N. Hamline-West District
o 722 Payne Ave. – East District
o 1820 S. Edgcumbe – Traffic and Pedestrian Safety
o 1900 Rice Street – Canine Unit
o 2621 Linwood Ave. – Outdoor Range
o 830 Barge Channel Road – Impound Lot
o Address not disclosed – Employee Assistance Program
o 1544 Timberlake – ACOP Unit
o 401 N. Robert St. - DTB
o Address not disclosed – ODU
o 388 13th St. – 911 Garage
o 600 Lafayette - Rowan Training Center
o Address not disclosed – Narcotics/Vice Unit
o West Energy Park Drive – Radio Shop
• The total square feet maintained by the staff is 275,601 square feet.
• The total building footprint has grown in recent years. However, no increase in staffing has
occurred with this growth of 58,400 square feet since 2017.
• Staff is divided into two major shifts of work; days and afternoons.
• Staff have an on-call function for overnight problems that need immediate attention.
• With two recently added buildings and no additional staff, overtime must be used to cover the
shifts needed to maintain the buildings.
• There are four (4) Custodian/Engineer II’s and four (4) Custodian II’s to perform the cleaning
duties; which means that the average custodian maintains over 34,000 square feet of space.
This is in juxtaposition to the Saint Paul School District which has an average custodial square
footage of 24,000 square feet.
• Staff perform interior cleaning, outdoor lawn maintenance, snow removal, maintenance repairs,
furniture installation, movement of large items, filter maintenance, and facilitating contractor
installations and construction projects.
• Building Maintenance does not have regular funding sources to replace furniture, carpet, or
other types of floor in the SPPD’s aging buildings.
• The Capital Improvement Budget process (CIB), which is a city-wide process to apply for capital
project funds, has been a good source for replacing lighting to new LED standards and other
mechanical systems.

210
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Risk Management Considerations:

• The age of many of the SPPD buildings create continual maintenance needs and increasing
associated costs.
• Safety of staff in handling materials, especially infrequent items, creates the need for perpetual
vigilance on worker-safety education and procedures.
• Need for staffing due the amount of SPPD building space creates a continuous gap in needs for
renewal and maintenance of facilities which are used 24-hours per day.

Recommendations:
• Add two (2) Custodian/Engineer II positions to reduce the maintenance footprint per
custodian. New positions should be added as Custodian/Engineer II’s to expand the unit’s
staffing to perform minor mechanical work.
• Expand budget through additional line items necessary to perform needed improvements to
SPPD buildings.
• Maintain employee status for maintenance staff as they have an enhanced sense of ownership
in their work that will not be present by a contract maintenance service.
• Hire an architect to perform an assessment of all SPPD workspace to increase efficiency of its
use and to make recommendations on future projects.

211
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Community Engagement Division Data Analysis 2019

Section 10.0 - Introduction

The scope of this section of the study is to accomplish the following:

• Describe unit and staff workloads

• Describe unit organization
• Describe unit staffing levels
• Identify workflow and structural problems
• Identify recommendations for process, workflow, and staffing issues or further research
needed

This chapter covers the Saint Paul Police Department’s Community Engagement Division which was
formed in March 2019. The Division is led by a Deputy Chief, Executive Officer, and Office Assistant.
The administrative team is responsible for the management of the division as shown below in Figure
100.01 The establishment of this division executive team was done without additional fiscal impact to
the Department.

The Figure 10.01 shows the division organization flow chart.

Figure 10.01

212
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 10.1 – Special Operations Unit-Community Engagement Division

The Special Operations Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 10.11;

• A current personnel table shown in Table 10.11:

Due to the reorganization of Special Operations in March 2019, a chart showing unit history will not be
shown as it is not relevant to current organizational structure.

The Special Operations Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Community Engagement.

Figure 10.11

Commander
(1)

Sergeant Sergeant
Sergeant Sergeant
Mobile Field Force/Training Traffic Management & Special
Permits/Events Intelligence/Data Mining
Less Lethal Program Event Plans
(1) (1)
(1) (0.2)

Table 10.11

Personnel Type 2019

Commander 1

Sergeant 3.2

Officer 0

Civilian 0

Total Staff 4.2

The focus of the Special Operations Unit is Departmental preparedness, pre-event planning,
and event management for the Saint Paul Police Department. This unit was established by
Chief Axtell in 2016. This unit works under the federal Emergency Management model for
much of its work with other city departments and other jurisdictions. This model is being
integrated into the special event planning of the SPPD under the guidance and training of this
unit.
213
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations:

• The following are the major areas of work performed by SOU on a regular basis:
o Risk assessments of all city events
o Social media data mining for potential impacts on city events
o Intelligence bulletins issued to entire agency
o Situational assessment and reporting for pre-planning intelligence for all city events
o SPPD readiness for disaster events
o All-Contingencies planning for large venues and events
o Mobile Field Force leadership, planning, training, and organization
o Bicycle Response Team leadership, planning, training, and organization
o Training on Emergency Management topics
o Working with ECC on major events
o Management & Training of 40mm Less Lethal program
o Management & Training of crowd control less lethal munitions program
o Management & Training of Pepperball program
o Management of SPPD Everbridge communication system
o Review and approval of all special event permits city wide
• SOU has the most direct relationship of any unit in SPPD with City of Saint Paul Emergency
Management, has a very good working relationship with this city department, and both units
are interwoven as a team in the planning and execution of events.
• In the summer of 2019, Saint Paul Emergency Management funded approximately 16 Mass
Casualty Bags for the Saint Paul Police SOU. These bags are an excellent improvement to
preparedness planning for large event locations.
• The number of civic protests has grown since 2016 and Saint Paul is a focal point/prime location
to carry out protests as the city is the state capital.
• City government and business groups have built new stadiums and attracted new festivals in
recent years; causing the need for more event planning.
• Events around the country with mass casualties from violence and accidents have created the
need for more and better planning around public events in Saint Paul.
• Staff monitor many marches, minor protest events, and meet with civic protest leaders on top
of all the formal project management done by each member of the unit.
• The added duties of monitoring events put a strain on each member of the unit, causing
overtime, very long hours, and weekend work that is beyond what should be expected of such a
small group of specialized staff.
• The 0.5 FTE time that one (1) Sergeant in the unit has to develop intelligence is not enough
personnel to manage the amount of monitoring that should occur.
• A major original focus of the unit was Mobile Field Force (MFF) operations.
• The SOU Commander is the command staff leader of Mobile Field Force.
• There are 100 officers and sergeants on the SPPD that are assigned to Mobile Field Force; all
members volunteer for this collateral duty. All Officers are trained for MFF during their initial
new officer academy.
• 60-70% of MFF team members are interested in continuing to be part of the team.
• In the last 18 months, no focus has been put on MFF operations training as a group due to the
staffing strains of the agency; no team-wide training has occurred during this period.
• MFF training needs to be done on the following topics:
o Fit testing of gas masks for all members
214
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

o Training on hand tossed munitions

o Field movement drills
o Field drills on specialized scenarios
o Classroom training on MFF changing methodology
• The Bicycle Response Team (BRT) function of MFF is often used and is effective during protests
or large city events due to their maneuverability in crowded locations.
• SOU has taken on the Pepperball Less Lethal platform in the last 12-18 months and is training all
the patrol districts in its use.
• Pepperball Less Lethal program was assigned to be developed by SOU due to the heavy amount
of other program commitments being handled by the Training Unit could not be accomplished
by the Training staff.
• Due to lack of assigned staff, the SOU Commander pays overtime to sworn staff who are
assigned to other units, to monitor some events due the high volume of events that are
occurring in the city.
• There is a very small budget for SOU materials and overtime; currently not enough to meet basic
needs of their function.
• MFF team is in need new gear and fully-funded budget line items to have a meaningful
maintenance plan.
• BRT team needs new bicycles and a fully-funded budget line items to have a meaningful
maintenance plan.
• Presently, SOU is only able to work event to event due their workload; and unable to put in the
time to develop the larger framework that they need to for city-wide event planning and
training.
• The Pepperball less-lethal program was started by Special Operations due to the Training Unit
being overtaxed with other projects at the time the program was initiated.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The City of Saint Paul shoulders considerable liability with a wide range of planned special
events/festivals, marches, and protests that can occur within the city.
• SOU function addresses the need for specialized professionals in pre-event planning, Emergency
Management functions, Mobile Field Force, and permitting to mitigate municipal liability.
• There is a community and inter-governmental expectation that the SPPD has a substantial
capability in Mobile Field Force operations.
• There is a community and inter-government expectation that the SPPD can develop enough
intelligence/data about potential threats and then make plans to mitigate them during events.
• MFF operations have considerable risk for litigation against the City.

Recommendations:

• Add one full-time civilian analyst to SOU to increase the monitoring of social media and
other intelligence information streams that need to be sifted through on a 24 hour cycle
by this unit.
• Add one Office Assistant to the Event Permit section of SOU.

215
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Tie-in intelligence analysis function of SOU to the recommended Intelligence Unit; this
can be a very synergistic relationship to increase overall SPPD situational awareness of
threats to attendees of events across the city.
• Develop a maintenance plan and budget for SOU for BRT bicycles, MFF equipment, and
less lethal munitions replacement.
• Move the training function for the Pepperball less-lethal platform to the Training Unit.
• Re-establish regular training cycles for Mobile Field Force and the Bicycle Response Team.

216
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 10.2 – Community Partnerships Unit-Community Engagement Division

The Community Engagement Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 10.21;

• A current personnel table shown in Table 10.21;

Due to the reorganization of parts of the SPPD in March 2019, which included all elements of what the
Community Partnerships Unit is now. A chart showing unit staffing history will not be shown as it is not
relevant to current organizational structure.

The Community Partnerships Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Community Engagement.

Figure 10.21

Commander
(1)

Sergeant
Sergeant Sergeant
School Resource
Volunteer Services ACOP Unit
Officer (SRO) Program
(1) (1)
(1)

Crime Prevention Community Liaison Officers

Officer Officers
Specialists Officers (CLO's) SRO (7)
(1) (9)
(2) (3) School Patrol (1)

Table 10.21

Personnel Type 2019

Commander 1

Sergeant 3

Officer 18

Civilian 5

Total Staff 27

217
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Responsibilities by sub-unit of the Community Partnerships Unit:

• ACOP sub-unit is led by a Sergeant with nine (9) Officers and three (3) civilian Community
Liaison Officers (CLO’s):
o 29-year partnership with Saint Paul Public Housing Authority (PHA); this is a flagship
program of the SPPD and is deemed as successful by both the SPPD and PHA.
o PHA was recently awarded a $2 million per year multiyear federal grant for a Crime Free
Multi-Housing program.
o ACOP is a program funded by PHA through a contractual relationship with the Saint Paul
Police Department.
• Volunteer Services sub-unit is led by a Sergeant with one Officer reporting to them. They are
currently housed in the SPPD’s headquarters building. Their combined duties are as follows:
o Chaplain program coordinator (SPPD averages 10 chaplains) (Sergeant)
o Police Band (Sergeant)
o Honor Guard (Sergeant)
o Crime Prevention Officers (2 civilian employees - both at different locations) (Sergeant)
o Managing internship program (Officer)
o Police Reserve Unit (about 70 volunteers with 30 regularly active members) (Officer)
• School Resource Officer Program sub-unit is led by a Sergeant with seven (7) School Resource
Officers (SRO’s) and one (1) School Patrol Officer.
o SRO’s are a school-based police presence in large Saint Paul school facilities.
o SRO’s are funded through a contractual relationship with the Saint Paul Public Schools.
o The main role of SRO’s is to build positive relationships in the school environment and
be a preventive presence in schools per School Board policy; and only used in
enforcement role as last resort. (role has changed from previous enforcement model)
o School Patrol Officer covers schedule openings for SRO’s, manages school crossing
program, provides safety education in schools, and handles bus arm violations reported.

Data/Observations:
• The unit is made up of staff located in several locations; locations include SPPD Headquarters,
Western District, Eastern District, McDonough Homes, and seven (7) schools.
• One of the challenges for the unit commander and staff is the dispersed nature of work
locations.
• The unit has several very diverse lines of work within each sub-unit. Data/Observations is
broken down by sub-unit.

Volunteer Services

• Volunteer Services serves hundreds of special events in the city in some capacity (e.g.; providing
police band, honor guard, chaplains, and/or reserve officers)

218
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Volunteer Services interacts with many different volunteers. Many of these volunteers serve
our agency with 100’s of hours of their time each year.
• Volunteer Services supports our volunteer police band. This unit has no budget and operates
based on budget dollars not used elsewhere in SPPD line items. Finding storage, uniform and
instrument funding, and managing the unit costs staff time.
• Volunteer Services’ Officer position does the interviews, backgrounds, and manages the
scheduling of all college interns who work in the SPPD.
• Mission of the Reserve Officers is to assist the Officers of the SPPD.
• Volunteer Services’ Officer position manages the training, scheduling, and supervision of the
volunteer Reserve Officers in the SPPD; including field supervision at events.
• Volunteer Services’ Officer has no redundancy or backup to their position for supervision of
Reserve Officers at events.
• The Sergeant and Officer in Volunteer Services have a lot of interaction with Special Operations,
special event commanders, and permitting in the preparation for staffing events with
volunteers.
• Reserve Officer program is funded by outside donations; no departmental budget line item is
used for consistency in funding.
• Honor Guard has no line item budget. It is funded through other line items not used. No
consistent funding.

Crime Prevention

• Crime Prevention Officers are working at two different locations making supervision more
difficult.
• Two (2) Crime Prevention Officers serve all three (3) Patrol Districts and the city’s 17-District
Councils, which are neighborhood -based interest groups funded by the City.
• Storage for supplies and equipment for Volunteer Services is inadequate due to space
restrictions at SPPD headquarters.

School Resource Officers

• School Resource Officer (SRO) program is currently operating without a contract (October 2019)
due to the Saint Paul School Board not creating a binding contract for the 2019-2020 school
year. There are disparate views on the role or need for SRO’s by the Saint Paul School Board.
• With the change in focus to prevention and relationship building, the SRO’s have undergone
high levels of training in conflict resolution and relationship/rapport building.
• The number of arrests by SRO’s in the past couple of years has greatly decreased due to most
disciplinary responsibility and intervention being completed by school staff.

219
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

ACOP

• ACOP program is perceived by managers within the SPPD to be working very well within its
scope and mission.
• ACOP program has a high level of satisfaction from staff working in ACOP and from PHA.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Proper level of supervision of volunteers should be consistently evaluated as circumstances and
volunteer missions change.
• Currently, there is no back up or support for Officer in charge of the Reserve Unit during special
event periods.
• Training programs for volunteers should be continually evaluated ensure all volunteers are
trained in areas they are being asked to do work on behalf of the SPPD.
• The SRO program resides in a school environment with governance from a school administration
and school board. It is important to ensure that SPPD policy and the policies of district school
administration and the school board are all in alignment. If alignment/agreement is not present,
this puts undue risk on the SPPD for its work in the Saint Paul public school system. If there is a
lack of alignment, the Department should consider whether it is prudent to continue to serve in
this capacity in public schools.
• The dispersed locations of Community Partnerships Unit staff create potential communication
problems and a lack of consistent support and supervision by the unit Commander and
Sergeants.
• Lack of line item funding for some unit functions creates budget stressors for unit staff.

Recommendations:
• Add one (1) Office Assistant to manage day to day office functions. This is a unit with wide
ranging functions and dispersed locations. This position will create continuity and assist staff.
• All Sergeants and as many staff should be co-located with the unit Commander in one location
to further ensure proper unit communication and supervision.
• Establish adequate onsite storage for Volunteer Services.
• Co-locate civilian Crime Prevention Specialists with their supervisor to ensure greater
collaboration.
• Add one (1) civilian Crime Prevention Specialist. This will allow for one dedicated Crime
Prevention Specialist per Patrol District to have undivided attention to the needs of a smaller
area of the city that is accomplished in coordination with the sworn staff of one patrol district.
• Establish a method of sworn staff support for the Officer in charge of the Reserve Unit in
Volunteer Services during special event periods.
• Continue to administratively support the ACOP program and relationship with PHA.

220
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Remove SRO’s from schools during any period where no contract has been ratified by the school
district.
• Consider elimination of the Police Band due to cost and administrative burden.

221
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 10.3 – Youth Programming and Outreach Unit - Community Engagement

Division
The Youth Programming and Outreach (YOPO) Unit has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 10.31:

• A current personnel table shown in Table 10.31:

Due to the reorganization of parts of the SPPD in March 2019, which included all elements of what now
constitutes the Youth Programming and Outreach Unit. A chart showing unit staffing history will not be
shown as it is not relevant to current organizational structure.

The YOPO Unit Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Community Engagement.

Figure 10.31

Commander
(1)

Sergeant
Sergeant Sergeant Community Engagement
Community Outreach/Safe Office Assistant III Grant Specialist
Police Athleteic League (PAL) LECPA Program Specialists
Summer Nights (1) (1)
(1) (2) (4)
(1)

Officer Officers Officers

(1) (1) (1)

LECPA Students
(40)

222
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 10.31

Personnel Type 2019

Commander 1

Sergeant 4

Officer 3

Civilian 6

Total Staff 14

Responsibilities by sub-unit of the YOPO Unit:

• Police Athletic League (PAL) sub-unit is led by a Sergeant with one (1)) Officers:
o Coordinate partnerships to create and sustain PAL program with youth.
o Engages city parks and recreation and Department staff as coaches and mentors for
youth participating in the program.
• LECPA Program (Law Enforcement Career Path Academy) sub-unit is led by two (2) Sergeants
with one (1) Officer:
o Runs LECPA program with a current roster of 40 student participants who working in
service learning environment, going to school for law enforcement 2-year degree and
completion of state licensing requirements for pre-employment as a police officer.
• Community Outreach/Safe Summer Nights sub-unit is led by one (1) Sergeant and one (1)
Officer:
o Manage the Safe Summer Nights program for the Saint Paul Police Department.
(Sergeant)
o Coordinate and plan the Junior Police Academy for students. (Sergeant)
o Develop and manage the Cops & Kids Christmas gift partnership. (Sergeant)
o Manage the Stuff the Sleigh program for Children’s Hospital. (Sergeant)
o Coordinate the Back-Pack Giveaway program for K-12 student. (Sergeant)
o Other outreach programming as assigned. (Sergeant)
o Deliver AVID program content in Saint Paul Public Schools. (Sergeant/Officer)
o Manage and lead the Explorers scouting program. (Officer)
o Coordinate the Ride Along program for community members. (Officer)
• Community Engagement Specialists:
o There are four positions who are hired to be experts within the Department in
connecting community member and resources to the SPPD.

223
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Grant Specialist:
o This one position is intended to manage and work on SPPD compliance many grants
across the agency.
o Seek new granting opportunities for existing programs.
o Work with administration on how strategic planning can be complimented by grant
opportunities.

Data/Observations:
• The Youth Programming and Outreach Unit has a large footprint in the SPPD efforts towards
connection with communities of color for the future diversification of its workforce.
• LECPA, PAL, and Explorers are currently all operating on grant funding.
• The PAL program has popularity within the community and presents a positive message for the
youth that become involved.
• The PAL program has outstretched its ability to serve expectations. Officers are recruited from
the SPPD to help with program, but without direct compensation, the number of Officers
available is low in number.
• PAL currently has no line item budget, it must rely on grants. Previous budget line items have
been eliminated.
• LECPA program was instituted in 2016 and receives all its funding from multiple grant sources;
currently 35 different grant fund streams.
• LECPA is a service-learning program that has 40 local area post-high school students working in
the SPPD.
• LECPA program partners with Community Action Partnerships, AmeriCorps, and Century College
for program content assistance and partial funding.
• Employment background investigations for LECPA students:
o There are Levels I through Level IV with the SPPD background system.
o LECPA program originally had students enter the program at a Level I background for
employment.
o This proved to be problematic when a higher level of backgrounding was necessary for
further employment within the agency, with some students not passing further
backgrounds levels or having behavioral issues presenting with current employment.
o New LECPA students will have to pass a Level III background to enter program.
o Higher level backgrounds will assist in solving students failing future background
processes.
• LECPA program is currently reorganizing the student time within the SPPD to make a more
structured curriculum for their service learning.
• A current program goal LECPA staff is measuring student success in the program and separating
those who are performing poorly before too much time and resources are expended.
• The Community Engagement Specialist (CES) positions have been in place for over two (2) years.
224
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• The Community Engagement Specialists are not subject matter experts in policing issues but
excel at accessing community leaders and members and bridging communication between
segments of the community with the SPPD.
• A departmental should be concerned and watch for potential gaps in community connections
that may exist with different age groups or sub-sections of community if SPPD Community
Engagement Specialists are relied upon too heavily for community relationships.
• Work is being done at this time to create more structure and consistency in managing the
direction and goals of the Community Engagement Specialists, so their work dovetails with the
strategic goals of the SPPD on a regular basis.
• The Community Outreach Sergeant and Officer deal with a multitude of programs that are
designed to give direct benefit of the SPPD’s position towards adults and youth at disadvantage
in our community. This work provides an added value to a government agency that often deals
with people in disadvantaged communities from a position of enforcement.
• Community Outreach’s work in the AVID program in Saint Paul Schools reaches a student
audience that is 85% diverse and makes them aware of law enforcement/public service as a
viable career path for them.
• A full-time Grant Coordinator has been an excellent addition to the administrative staffing of the
SPPD. The grant opportunities to the work of the YOPO Unit is an example of the work that is
being done as a result of this position and would not likely have occurred without it.

Risk Management Considerations:

• Dependency on grant money sustaining the program work of the YOPO unit places these very
important external community relationships and staff diversity growth opportunities in a very
tenuous position if grant funds are no longer available as the source of funding.
• The LECPA student/ police staff ratio must be watched to ensure quality control in the advising
and supervision of LECPA student workers.
• Consider the actual communication chain between the LECPA recruitment process, LECPA
student in-program time window, and job opportunities as they near the end of their student
program. There is a potential to lose quality candidates to other SPPDs if SPPD does not have
post-program opportunities for LECPA students we want to recruit for civilian or sworn
positions.

Recommendations:
• Create budget line items for all Youth Programming and Outreach programs. This
recommendation is not to displace grant funding, but to create a budgetary imprint of what it
takes to run these programs in the absence of grant funding. The strategy would be to create
the line items that would be escrowed and returned to the City’s general fund if grant funding is
available. However, if grant funding is not available, there is a budgetary infrastructure in place

225
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

to fund these very important programs that reflect the values of the community the SPPD
serves.
• Add (1) grant coordinator. YOPO Unit programming needs about 75% of the time of the current
SPPD grant coordinator to manage the 35 grant streams for just LECPA and the other grants in
order to comply with the term, conditions, and accounting for these major grant funding
streams. A second grant writer should be hired to work on other granting opportunities for
departmental needs, initiatives, and innovation grants.

226
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 10.4 – Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Unit/Parking Enforcement -

Community Engagement Division
The Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Unit (TPSU) has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 10.41;

• A current personnel table shown in Table 10.41;
• Six (6) year caseloads and activity from 2013-2018 shown in Table 10.42;

Due to the reorganization of parts of the SPPD in March 2019, which included all elements of TPSU. A
chart showing unit staffing history will not be shown as it is not relevant to current organizational
structure.

The TPSU Commander reports to the Deputy Chief of Community Engagement.

Figure 10.41

Commander
(1)

Sergeant
Sergeant Sergeant
Traffic Crash Office Assistant III
Parking Enforcement Traffic Enforcement
Investigations (1)
(1) (1)
(2)

Civilian Parking Officer

Officers
Enforcement Officers DUI Hold Books
(?)
(15) (1)

227
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Table 10.41 Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Personnel Table

Personnel Type 2019

Commander 1

Sergeant 4

Officer 10

Civilian PEO’s 15

Clerk 1

Total Staff 31

Table 10.42 - Traffic Investigations

Traffic and Ped. Safety 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Total # of Cases 9304 8973 8519 8966 7315 7970

# of Cases Per Investigator 2326 2243 2129 2241 2438 2656

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed 4 5 3 4 5 10

Cases

Recommended Range of Cases 2281- 1825- 3041- 2281- 1825- 912-

Per Investigator Per Year 3650 2920 4866 3650 2920
1460

Cleared by Arrest 5782 5104 4981 5198 4111 4488

Declined 27 25 26 29 17 27

Noted 1840 2751 2481 2702 2160 2264

Other/Unk. 705 2 3 4 1 11

Unfounded 5 5 5 1 1 1

Recovered Property 0 1 6 1 0 2

Exceptional Clearance 4 3 3 3 9 1

Pended 934 1075 1000 1017 1013 1138

TOT Other Agency 7 7 14 11 3 38

Adults Booked for Crime 1358 1052 999 704 737 898

Adults Cited for Crime 3761 3249 3316 2593 1230 875

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked 11 5 14 UNK 6 4

Juvenile Booked at JDC 7 1 6 4 7 3

228
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Data/Observations:
• TPSU was historically part of a larger unit previous organized as Citywide Services. In March
2019, this unit was significantly reduced in size when the Motorcycle and Mounted Units were
disbanded due to concerns over SPPD liability for injury to sworn staff in the units and increasing
demand for police service. The disbanded units were redeployed to Patrol Operations to
increase staffing.
• TPSU has changed its focus from standard speed related violations enforcement to distracted
driving and pedestrian safety related driver education and conduct violations.
• TPSU has a Parking Enforcement Officer (PEO) program which is a recruitment program for law
enforcement students and a full-time position in the SPPD. This program works to assist the
students in preparation (over a maximum 4 year period) towards completion of their law
enforcement program and provides a 30-40 hour per week job as a Parking Enforcement Officer.
• Parking enforcement is a significant issue in Saint Paul and receives a lot of interface with other
portions of city government.
• Currently, the Sergeant supervising the PEO’s has a 20% share of their time assigned to the
Special Operations Unit to assist in traffic management planning and special event planning.
• Historically, Traffic Investigations had four (4) sergeants assigned to investigate traffic crashes.
This was reduced to three (3) Sergeant Investigators in 2017 and was reduced to two (2)
Sergeant Investigators in August of 2019.

Risk Management Considerations:

• It is very important to the recruitment efforts of the SPPD to have an effective Sergeant
supervisor for the Parking Enforcement program for retention of good candidates for future
employment as sworn officers.
• Case volume for Traffic Investigations must be monitored to ensure proper follow-up is
achievable.
• Traffic enforcement tolerances vary across Saint Paul and no single type of enforcement should
be neglected.

Recommendations:
• Eliminate the shared responsibilities of the Sergeant supervising the Parking Enforcement
program.
• Add one (1) sergeant investigator to reduce the number new cases per year each investigator
must carry.

229
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 10.5 – C.O.A.S.T. Unit - Community Engagement Division

The Community Outreach and Stabilization Unit (COAST) has:

• The organizational structure shown in Figure 10.51;

• Three (3) year personnel history from 2017-2019 shown in Table 10.51;

The COAST Unit Sergeant reports to the Deputy Chief of Community Engagement.

Figure 10.51

Sergeant
(1)

Social Workers
Officers Research Analyst
(not employees)
(7) (1)
(4)

Figure 10.51

Personnel Type 2017 2018 2019

Sergeant 1 1 1

Officer 0 3 7

Total Staff 1 4 8

Data/Observations:
• The COAST Unit was originally established for managing information, training, developing grant
opportunities, and working with external mental health organizations regarding people
experiencing mental health crises in Saint Paul. The original unit name was the “Mental Health
Unit.” It was originally built around one (1) Sergeant.
• In 2018, three (3) Officers were added to the unit.
• One Officer position has been responsible for the development of a case management
infrastructure for the Officers and embedded social workers in the unit for field work with
persons in crisis. Additionally, this Officer position also oversees the Recovery Access Program
that deals with connecting people struggling with addiction, that the unit is aware of, with
pathways to recovery support.
• In 2018, two (2) social workers, financially supported by outside social service agencies, were
added to the unit. The unit uses the term “embedded social workers” for these social worker
positions who work along-side Officers in the unit. Together, they go out into the community to

230
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

work with residents who have been identified as having long-term mental health issues and
have had interactions with Saint Paul Police Officers.
• In 2019, four (4) Officers were added to the unit.
• One (1) Officer added in 2019 is responsible for homeless outreach. This Officer position had
previously been assigned to a different unit and working on homeless outreach prior to be
assigned to COAST.
• In 2019, the unit name changed to Community Outreach and Stabilization Unit (COAST) to
better reflect their work.
• In 2019, two (2) additional embedded social workers were added from community mental
health organizations and are being paid for out of a grant received by the SPPD.
• The unit currently has Officers working on Day and Afternoon shift. These Officers work with
embedded social workers work on in-home visits of persons who have had SPPD contact due to
past mental health crises and assist on in-progress calls where persons with mental health crises
are the reason for the initial call to police. Their job on-scene is to assist district Patrol Officers
with their skills, training, and resources.
• An unintended consequence of Officers working with district Patrol Officers has been that
Officers utilize the COAST Officers as peer counselors for the stress they feel in their jobs, thus
serving in a role of peer counseling outside of our formal peer counseling program in EAP.

Risk Management Considerations:

• The issue of mental health crisis and law enforcement response is a community topic of
concern.
• Lack of continued innovation in this area will open any law enforcement agency to criticism and
litigation.
• Continuing agency-wide training in CIT and related topics, to keep sworn staff training relevant
to the latest protocols and techniques in dealing with persons-in-crisis, is a community
expectation.

Recommendations:
• Continue to utilize the existing programming of the unit.
• Rename unit Behavior Services with the sub-unit categories of COAST and EAP Services.
• Consolidate the following functions under one command:
o COAST
o Autism Outreach
o EAP
o Peer Counseling
• Add one (1) Commander to administer this larger unit.
• Add one (1) Sergeant to supervise the afternoon shift COAST Officers and embedded social
workers.
• The two (2) COAST Sergeants should be cross-trained to support the EAP Director for on-
call/vacation relief.
• Add one (1) Officer position to the unit to move the Autism Outreach Officer in West Patrol to
COAST.
231
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

• Add one (1) Office Assistant to perform the unit coordination and manage the substantial
confidential paperwork associated with this work.

End of Report

232
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 11.0 - Study Author

Jack Serier is the primary researcher and author of this study. Jack currently holds
the rank of Police Commander at the Saint Paul Police Department and has served
as a law enforcement officer for 29 years. He previously served in the Stillwater
and Eagan departments and rose to the rank of Commander at Saint Paul
before working as an administrator at the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office and
serving as Sheriff of Ramsey County.

Jack holds a B.A. from Hamline University and earned master’s degree and a
doctoral degree in Leadership, Policy and Administration from the University of
Saint Thomas. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico,
Virginia.

Commander Serier continues to teach ethics and leadership as an assistant

professor at Saint Mary’s University, adjunct faculty at the University of Saint
Thomas, and as an instructor for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension’s management program. He also serves on the board of the
Northeast Youth and Family Services and the President’s Council for Northern
Star Scouting. Jack is an Eagle Scout and served in Scouting as an adult leader
for many years.

233
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 12.0 - References

(1) Metropolitan Council. Community Profiles. Retrieved May 2019. url:
https://stats.metc.state.mn.us/data_download/DD_Comm_Select.aspx?datasource=p
ophh
(2) Saint Paul Department of Planning & Economic Development analysis. Retrieved May 2019.
url: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-economic-development/racial-
equity-metrics American Community Survey 2017 1 year data, table DP05 and
https://www.stpaul.gov/books/race
(3) U.S Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2018. American Fact Finder. Retrieved May
2019. url:
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk
(4) Kaiser Family Foundation. Poverty Rate by Age 2017. Retrieved May 2019.
url: https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/poverty-rate-by-
age/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%
22:%22asc%22%7D
(5) U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates,
2006 - 2010 (midpoint 2008) and 2011-2015 (midpoint 2013), Table C17002. City of
Saint Paul Poverty – Trends in Poverty. Retrieved July 2019.
url: https://www.stpaul.gov/books/income
(6) Minnesota State Demographic Center. Income & Poverty. Retrieved May 2019.
url: https://mn.gov/admin/demography/data-by-topic/income-poverty/
(7) Metropolitan Council. Section Two: Regional Poverty Trends. Retrieved May 2019.
url: https://metrocouncil.org/Planning/Projects/Thrive-2040/Choice-Place-and-
Opportunity/FHEA/FHEA-Sect-2.aspx
(8) 2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:
https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime%20
Report.pdf
(9) 2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime
%20Report.pdf
(10)2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime%2
0Report.pdf
(11)2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime%2
0Report.pdf
(12)2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime
%20Report.pdf
(13)2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime
%20Report.pdf

234
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

(14)2017 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2017%20Crime
%20Report.pdf
(15)City of Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan: Housing. 2010. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Planning%20%26%20E
conomic%20Development/web%20Housing%20Plan%202-18-10.pdf
(16)City of Saint Paul. Job Growth. Retrieved May 2019.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/books/annual-job-trends
(17)City of Saint Paul: Housing. Retrieved May 2019. url:https://www.stpaul.gov/books/population
(18)Bostrom, M. (2005) & Englund, T. (2015) Supervisor Training Manuals. Saint Paul Police
Department.
(19)Amendola, K.L., D. Weisburd, E. Hamilton, G. Jones and M. Slipka. The Shift Length Experiment:
What We Know About 8, 10, and 12 Hour Shifts in Policing. Police Foundation, 2011.
url: https://www.policefoundation.org/projects/the-shift-length-experiment/
(20) Wilder Research. 2018 Minnesota Homeless Study: Ramsey County.
Retrieved May 2019.http://mnhomeless.org/minnesota-homeless-study/detailed-
data-counts/2018/Ramsey-2018-Homeless-Counts_3-19.pdf?v=2
(21) Copple, Colleen K., and James E. Copple. 2018. Risk Management in Law Enforcement:
Discussions on Identifying and Mitigating Risk for Officers, Departments, and the
Public. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
(22) Balfanz, B. (2019). Five-year call data, 2014-2018. Inter-office memorandum from Research and
Development Unit, Saint Paul Police Department: Saint Paul, Minnesota.
(23) 2014 City of Saint Paul Police Crime Report.
url:https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Police/2014CrimeRepo
rt.pdf
(24)Data provided by Saint Paul Police Department: Analyst Andrew Enriquez February – May 2019.
CAD analysis
(25) Melo, F. Nov. 11, 2019. Ford site development deal reached, St. Paul and Ryan Cos. Say.
url: https://www.twincities.com/2019/11/11/announcement-expected-tuesday-at-
former-ford-site-in-st-pauls-highland-park/
(26) Need end note on investigations data.
(27) Police Executive Research Forum; Bureau of Justice Statistics. October 2018. Promising strategic
for strengthening homicide investigations: findings and recommendations from the
bureau of justice assistance’s homicide enhancement training and technical assistant
project.
(28) Good Cop, Good Cop: A Get Healthy, Stay Healthy Guide for Law Enforcement, Casey 2018
(29) Taranowski, Chester J., & Kathleen M. Mahieu. “Trends in Employee Assistance Program
Implementation, Structure, and Utilization, 2009 to 2010.” Journal of Workplace
Behavioral Health, vol. 28, no. 3, 7 Aug. 2013, pp. 172–191.
doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2013.808068.
(30) Balfanz, B. (2019). Three-year call data, 2016-2018. Inter-Office Memoradum from Research
and Development Unit, Saint Paul Police Department: Saint Paul, Minnesota.

235
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 13.0 - Glossary

Records Management System (RMS) statistical description from six (6) year RMS Case Data Charts
Investigative Unit Name

Total # of Cases Total number of criminal cases investigated by the unit

# of Cases Per Investigator Numerical value determined by the following equation:

Total # of Cases/# of Sergeant Investigators = # of Cases Per Investigator

Avg. Case Time (days) Closed Number of days it took for a case to be closed by the investigative unit with one of the
Cases following dispositions: Cleared by Arrest, Declined, Noted, Other/Unk.,Unfounded,
Recovered Property, Exceptionally Cleared, Pended, TOT other Agency

Cleared by Arrest Investigative case closed by a suspect being charged/arrested for crime

Declined Investigative case closed by being declined for charging suspect with a crime by the
City/County Attorney’s Office

Noted Investigative case closed after review by unit investigators with no further action
needed; an informational report with no criminal arrest

Other/Unk. Investigative case closed due to determination that no crime was committed or a
mitigating circumstance

Unfounded Investigative case closed due to no crime having occurred

Recovered Property Investigative case closed, no new crime occurred, but property was recovered during
incident

Exceptional Clearance Investigative case closed, not charged due to in-extremis circumstance

Pended Investigative case closed due to no further action/follow-up identifying a suspect or

enough probable cause to make an arrest in the crime

TOT Other Agency Investigative case closed because it was transferred to another law enforcement agency
with jurisdiction in the case

Total Booked for Crime Total number of cases in the year where a suspect was physically arrested and taken
into custody for a crime

Cited for Crime Total number of people charged by citation-not taken into physical custody (typically a
misdemeanor crime)

Juvenile Arrested Not Booked Total number of juvenile persons charged for a crime, but never taken into custody

Juvenile Booked at JDC Total number of juvenile persons arrested, taken into custody, and charged for a crime
at the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC)

236
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Section 14.0 - Staffing Level Charts/Additions to Staffing Levels

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended Units
Levels s FTE's) FTE's and FTE's
Office of the
Chief Office of the Chief
Chief of Police 1 0 Chief of Police 1
Assistant Chief 1 0 Assistant Chief 1
Senior Senior
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Sergeant 5 0 Sergeant 5
Officer 4 0 Officer 4
Civilian PIO 1 new 1 Civilian PIO 2
Office Manager 1 0 Office Manager 1
Office Assistant 2 0 Office Assistant 2
Total 17 Total 18

Patrol Operations Patrol Operations

Admin. Admin.
Deputy Chief 1 0 Deputy Chief 1
Sergeant 1 0 Sergeant 1
Secretary 1 0 Secretary 1
Total 3 0 Total 3

Patrol Divisions Operations - Eastern District Patrol Operations

Sr. Commander 1 0 Sr. Commanders 1
Commander 2 0 Commanders 2
Sergeant 10 0 Sergeants 10
Inv. Sergeant 2 Add from Burglary (2) new 2 Inv. Sergeants 6
Officer 87 new 11 Officers 98
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistants 1
Total 103 Total 118

237
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Patrol Divisions Operations - Central District Patrol Operations
Sr. Commander 1 0 Sr. Commanders 1
Commander 3 0 Commanders 3
Sergeant 12 0 Sergeants 12
Inv. Sergeant 2 Add from Burglary (2) 2 Inv. Sergeants 6
10
Officer 93 new 11 Officers 4
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistants 1
Total 112 Total 127

Patrol Divisions Operations - Western District Patrol Operations

Sr. Commander 1 0 Sr. Commanders 1
Commander 2 0 Commanders 2
Sergeant 10 Sergeants 16
Inv. Sergeant 3 Add from Burglary (2) new 3 Inv. Sergeants 8
Officer 84 new 11 Officers 95
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistants 1
Total 101 Total 123

Ordinance
Ordinance Disposal Unit Disposal Unit
(ODU) (ODU)
Sergeant 1 Sergeant 1
0 new 1 Officer 1
Total 1 Total 2

Canine Unit Canine Unit

Commander 1 Commander 1
Sergeant 2 Sergeant 2
Officer 18 Officer 18
Office
Office Assistant 0 Assistant/Analyst 0
Total 21 Total 21

238
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
FORCE Unit FORCE Unit
Inv. Sergeant 1 Move to Gangs (1) -1 Inv. Sergeant 0
Move to: Gangs (4)/Intel
Officer 9 (3)/POR (1)/Rob-Kid. (1) -9 Officer 0
Total
Total 10 -6 Total 0

Watch Watch
Commander Commander
Commander 2 0 Commander 2
Total 2 Total 2

Major Crimes Patrol Operations

Admin. Admin.
Deputy Chief 1 0 Deputy Chief 1
Sergeant 0.5 0 Sergeant 1
Secretary 1 0 Secretary 1
Total 3 0 Total 3

Strategic Criminal Intelligence & Investigations

(SCI&I) (SCI&I)
Senior Senior
Commander 0 Add from Homicide (1) 0 Commander 1
Total 0 Total 1

Robbery/Homicid
e Homicide
Senior move to Strat. Criminal Senior
Commander 1 Intel & Invest. (SCI&I) -1 Commander 0
Commander 0 1 Commander 1
Move to Cold Case
Inv. Sergeant 11 Homicide (1) -1 Inv. Sergeant 10
Officer 1 0 Officer 1
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 14 Total 13

239
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Special Currently w/in Special
Investigations Rob. Hom. Investigations
Commander 0 Commander 0
Move to
Rob./Kidnap(2)/Move to
Inv. Sergeant 4 FSU(2) -4 Inv. Sergeant 0
Move to Sex
Crimes/POR(1)/ Move to
Officer 2 Juvenile(1) -2 Officer 0
Office Office
Assistant/Analyst 0 Assistant/Analyst 0
Total 0 6 Total 0

Cold Case Currently w/in Cold Case

Homicide Rob. Hom. Homicide
Commander 0 0 Commander 0
Inv. Sergeant 0 Add from Homicide (1) new 1 Inv. Sergeant 2
Officer 0 0 Officer 0
Office Assistant 0 0 Office Assistant 0
Total 0 0 Total 2

Robbery/Kidnapp Currently w/in Robbery/Kidnapp

ing Rob. Hom. ing
Commander 0 0 Commander 0
Inv. Sergeant 0 new 4 Inv. Sergeant 4
Officer 0 Add from FORCE (1) 0 Officer 1
Office Assistant 0 0 Office Assistant 0
Total 0 5 Total 6

Violent Crimes Against Unit not in Violent Crimes Against

Persons existence Persons
Commander 0 new 1 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 0 new 6 Inv. Sergeant 6
Officer 0 new 1 Officer 1
Office Assistant 0 new 1 Office Assistant 1
Total 0 Total 9

240
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Unit not in
Intelligence Unit existence Intelligence Unit
Add from Technology
Commander 0 Unit (1) Commander 1
Add from Technology
Inv. Sergeant 0 Unit (3) 0 Inv. Sergeant 3
Add from FORCE (3)/Add
Officer 0 from Technology (3) 0 Officer 6
Civilian Analyst 0 Add from Technology (2) new 1 Civilian Analyst 3
Civ. CCTV Civ. CCTV
Technician 0 new 6 Technician 6
Office Assistant 0 1 Office Assistant 1
Total 0 Total 20

Sex Crimes Unit Sex Crimes

Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 8 new 8 Inv. Sergeant 16
Add from SIU (1)/ Add
Officer/POR 1 from FORCE (1) 0 Officer 3
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total
Total 11 10 Total 21

Unit not in
Child Abuse Unit existence Child Abuse Unit
Commander 0 new 1 Commander 1
Add from ICAC/TFO Unit
(1)/ Add from Prop
Inv. Sergeant 0 Rm(1) new 3 Inv. Sergeant 5
Officer 0 0 Officer 0
Office Assistant 0 new 1 Office Assistant 1
Total 0 Total 7

241
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Family Violence Family Violence
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 7 new 1 Inv. Sergeant 8
Officer 2 0 Officer 2
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 11 Total 12

CAPROP (Auto Theft/Burglary/Fraud &

Forgery/Arson/APS Burglary
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Move Burg. Inv. to West (Add to Auto
Inv. Sergeant 15 (2)/Central(2)/East(2) Theft) 2 Inv. Sergeant 11
Officer 2 0 Officer 2
Civilian Analyst 1 0 Civilian Analyst 1
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 20 Total 16

Safe Streets/TFO Safe Streets/TFO

Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Move ICAC (1) to Child
Inv. Sergeant 3 Abuse -1 Inv. Sergeant 2
Officer 8 0 Officer 8
Office Assistant 0 0 Office Assistant 0
Total 12 Total 11

Gang Unit Gang Unit

Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 7 Add from FORCE (1) new 1 Inv. Sergeant 9
Officer 16 Add from FORCE (4) 0 Officer 20
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 25 Total 31

242
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Juvenile Unit Juvenile Unit
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 7 0 Inv. Sergeant 7
Officer-Missing
Persons 1 Add from SIU (1) new 1 Officer 3
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 10 Total 12

Narcotics/Vice Narcotics/Vice
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 6 0 Inv. Sergeant 6
Officer 14 0 Officer 14
Civilian Analyst 1 0 Civilian Analyst 1
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 23 Total 23

Support Services Support Services

Admin. Admin.
Deputy Chief 1 0 Deputy Chief 1
Sergeant 1 0 Sergeant 1
Secretary 0.5 0 Secretary 1
Total 3 0 Total 3

Employee Assistance Employee Assistance

Program (EAP) Program (EAP)
Sergeant 1 0 Sergeant 1
Total 1 Total 1

243
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Fleet/Radio Shop Fleet/Radio Shop
Move to Traffic
Sergeant 1 Investigations(1) -1 Sergeant 0
Civilian Fleet Civilian Fleet
Manager 0 new 1 Manager 1
Civilian
Supervisor 1 0 Civilian Supervisor 1
Civ. Radio Civ. Radio
Technicians 5 0 Technicians 5
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 8 Total 8

Training Unit Training Unit

Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Sergeant 6 new 1 Sergeant 7
Officer 7 new 3 Officer 10
Office Assistant 1 new 1 Office Assistant 2
Total 15 Total 20

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Property &
Property & Evidence Unit Evidence Unit
Civilian Manager 0 new 1 Civilian Manager 1
Move to Child Abuse
Sergeant 1 Unit (1) -1 Sergeants 0
Property Clerk 4.5 0 Property Clerk 4.5
Photo Lab
Technicians 1 0 1
Total 6.5 Total 6.5

244
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Records Unit Records Unit
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Civilian Manager 1 0 Civilian Manager 1
Review Officer 5 new 1 Review Officer 6
Office Assistants Office Assistant II 11.
II & III 11.2 0 & III 2
Total 18.2 Total 19.2

Impound Lot Impound Lot

Civilian Manager 1 0 Civilian Manager 1
PM Supervisor 1 0 PM Supervisor 1
Property Clerk 6 0 Property Clerk 6
PT Property Clerk PT Property Clerk
(.5) 3 0 (.5) 3
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 12 Total 12

Human Resource Human Resource

Unit Unit
HR Consultant 1 0 HR Consultant 1
Backgrounds- Backgrounds-
Officer 3 0 Officer 3
Office Assistant III
& IV 2 new 0.5 Office Assistant 2.5
Total 6 Total 6.5

245
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Forensic Science Forensic Science
Unit Unit
Civilian Lab Civilian Lab
Director 1 0 Director 1
Quality Assurance Quality Assurance
Mgr. 0 new 1 Mgr. 1
Inv. Sergeant 2 Add from SIU (2) 0 Sergeants 4
Officers 6 0 Officers 6
Forensic Scientist Forensic Scientist
III 1 (currently vacant) 0 III 1
Forensic Scientist Forensic Scientist
II 1 0 II 1
Forensic Scientist
I 3 0 Forensic Scientist I 3
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 15 Total 18

Technology Unit (Technology/Video Mgmt./CCTV) Technology Unit

Commander 1 Move to Intelligence (1) -1 0
Civilian Manager 0 new 1 1
Move to Intelligence
Sergeant 4 Unit (3) -3 1
Move Intelligence Unit
Officer 3 (3) -3 Officer 0
Civilian Project
Manager 0 new 1 1
Video Technician 5 0 Video Technician 5
Service
Technician 3 0 Service Technician 3
Civilian Analyst 4 -2 Civilian Analyst 2
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 21 Total 17

246
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Building Maintenance Building
Unit Maintenance Unit
Building Maint. Building Maint.
Sup. 1 0 Sup. 1
Engineer III 1 0 Engineer III 1
Maint. Mechanic 1 0 Maint. Mechanic 1
Custodian Custodian
Engineer II 4 new 2 Engineer II 6
Custodian II 4 Custodian II 4
Total 11 Total 13

Accounting Unit Accounting Unit

Accountant IV 1 0 Accountant IV 1
Accountant I 1 0 Accountant I 1
Account Clerk II 1 0 Account Clerk II 1
Total 3 Total 3

Community Engagement Community

Admin. Engagement Admin.
Deputy Chief 1 0 Deputy Chief 1
Sergeant 1 0 Sergeant 1
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 3 0 Total 3

Special Special
Operations Unit Operations Unit
Commander 1 Commander 1
Sergeant 3 Sergeant 3
Officer 0 Officer
Civilian Analyst 0 new 1 Civilian Analyst 1
Office Assistant 0 new 1 Office Assistant 1
Total 4 Total 6

247
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

# of Add
Current Unit FTE' Moved FTE (current New/Subtract Recommended
Levels s FTE's) FTE's Units and FTE's
Community Partnerships Community
Unit Partnerships Unit
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Sergeant 3 0 Sergeant 3
Officer 18 0 Officer 18
Crime Prev. Crime Prev.
Specialists 2 new 1 Specialists 3
CLO's 3 0 CLO's 3
Office Assistant 0 new 1 Office Assistant 1
Total 27 Total 29

Youth Programming &

Youth Programming & Outreach Unit Outreach Unit
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Sergeant 4 0 Sergeant 4
Officer 3 0 Officer 3
Crime Engage.
Specialists 4 0 4
Grant Specialist 1 new 1 Grant Specialist 2
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 14 Total 15

Traffic & Pedestrian Traffic & Pedestrian

Safety Unit Safety Unit
Commander 1 0 Commander 1
Inv. Sergeant 2 Add from Fleet (1) 0 Inv. Sergeant 3
Sergeant 2 0 Sergeant 2
Officer 10 0 Officer 10
Civ. Parking Enf.
Officers 15 0 15
Office Assistant 1 0 Office Assistant 1
Total 31 Total 32

COAST Unit COAST Unit

Commander 0 new 1 Commander 1
Sergeant 1 new 1 Sergeant 2
Officer 7 0 Officer 7
Civ. Analyst 1 0 Civ. Analyst 1
Office Assistant 0 new 1 Office Assistant 1

248
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Total 9 Total 12

Recommended
Current Personnel Personnel
Positions Investments
Accountant IV 1 Accountant IV 0
Accountant I 1 Accountant I 0
Account Clerk I 1 Account Clerk I 0
Assistant Chief 1 Assistant Chief 0
Building Maint. Building Maint.
Superv. 1 Superv. 0
Chief of Police 1 Chief of Police 0
Civ. Service Civ. Service
Technicians 3 Technicians 0
Civ. Video Civ. Video
Technicians 5 Technicians 6
Civilian Analyst 6 Civilian Analyst 2
Civilian Crime Civilian Crime
Prev. Specialist 2 Prev. Specialist 1
Civilian Grant Civilian Grant
Specialist 1 Specialist 1
Civilian Lab Civilian Lab
Director 1 Director 0
Civilian PIO 1 Civilian PIO 1
Civilian Fleet Civilian Fleet
Manager 1 Manager 1
Civilian Project Civilian Project
Manager 0 Manager 1
Civilian Unit Civilian Unit
Supervisor 2 Supervisor 0
Civilian Unit Civilian Unit
Manager 2 Manager 2
Commander 25 Commander 4
Community Community
Engagement Engagement
Specialists 4 Specialists 0
Community Community
Liaison Officer 3 Liaison Officer 0
Custodian Custodian
Engineer II 4 Engineer II 2
Custodian II 4 Custodian II 0
Deputy Chief 4 Deputy Chief 0
Engineer III 1 Engineer III 0

249
Organizational Study of the Saint Paul Police Department - 2019

Forensic Scientist Forensic Scientist

I 3 I 0
Forensic Scientist Forensic Scientist
II 1 II 0
Forensic Scientist Forensic Scientist
III 1 III 0
Human Resource Human Resource
Consultant 1 Consultant 0
Investigative Investigative
Sergeants 80 Sergeants 33
Maint. Mechanic 1 Maint. Mechanic 0

Office Assistant 34.2 Office Assistant 6.5

Office Manager 1 Office Manager 0
Officers 399 Officers 39
Parking Enf. Parking Enf.
Officer 15 Officer 0
Photo Lab Photo Lab
Technician 1 Technician 0
Property Clerk 13.5 Property Clerk 0
Quality
Assurance Quality Assurance
Manager 0 Manager 1
Radio Technician 5 Radio Technician 0
Review Officer 5 Review Officer 1
Secretary 3 Secretary 0
Senior Senior
Commander 5 Commander 0
Sergeant 70 Sergeant 2
Total FTE's: 713.7 Total FTE's: 103.5

250