2016 St. Anthony PD Annual Report

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2016 Annual Report • Police Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota 1 | Page I. Message from the Chief HONORABLE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, CITY MANAGER AND CITIZENS OF ST. ANTHONY: The year 2016 has brought about very uncertain times for law enforcement across America and in the Twin Cities Metro area. We have indeed felt this impact locally, with the tragic shooting death that occurred in the City of Falcon Heights. Our communities, our city governments and our police department have been heavily impacted due to the recent national attitudes toward law enforcement. We know, from research, that personal interactions have the strongest impact on perceptions. People form opinions of the police based on their own interactions with them or the experiences they hear from others. People tend to focus on how police treat them, the process and interactions, as opposed to the final outcome of those interactions. People typically report positive impressions of an officer who treated them fairly and respectfully, even if the officer gave them a speeding ticket. An officer's demeanor and actions are crucial to perceptions of police legitimacy. Generally, if police officers communicate well, listen and treat citizens with respect, citizens will respond in kind. Over my twenty-two years in St. Anthony, working with our partner communities, I have repeatedly witnessed as our officers and I have benefitted from engaging our community members in this fashion. People who perceive that they have received “procedural justice” are likely to perceive the police as legitimate and trustworthy and are likely to cooperate in future interactions. Procedural justice is the notion that a process is fair and that people have the opportunity to be heard, are treated politely and respectfully, and are judged by a neutral system, free of bias. St. Anthony Police Officers, as most law enforcement professionals, are driven to do the best job they possibly can. We are fortunate to be provided with some of the best training and equipment available in order to better serve our communities. Our culture, in St. Anthony, is built around service, teamwork and accountability. In addition, we have focused on community engagement, integrity and training as strong organizational values for many years. We have already taken the step of scheduling and completing implicit bias training for all of our staff. We look forward to learning how we can enhance our police service in the community and are deeply committed to participating in the Collaborative Reform Initiative with the Department of Justice. “Safety Through Service” is a mantra that has always been part of our culture here at the St. Anthony Police Department. My previous police chiefs, Richard Engstrom and John Ohl, understood this concept. I am merely reinforcing it and paying it forward. Respectfully submitted, Jon Mangseth Chief of Police