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2019 Annual Report • Police Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota <br /> <br /> <br />29 | Page <br /> <br />XI. Community Engagement Summary <br />PREPARED BY SERGEANT MIKE HUDDLE <br />When summarizing the St. Anthony Police Department’s community engagement efforts, it is <br />important to understand that “community engagement” is not something that can simply and <br />easily be captured in a statistical report. Nor can it be fully understood through the listing of <br />activities or programs offered by an organization. It is so much more than that. It includes a <br />philosophy that demands constant self-examination, feedback from community members, <br />training, growth, and commitment from each member of the organization. It also involves some <br />trial and error, taking risks, and a sincere interest in better serving all members of our <br />community. The impact of these things are difficult to summarize and provide statistical data, <br />in part, due to the fact that it comes down to relationships, and the benefit of some efforts may <br />take time to be realized. With this in mind, the members of our department understand that <br />each and every contact we have with the community, whether it be a traffic stop, call for service, <br />informal conversation at a soccer game, or having a contact with our records/office staff, is a <br />community engagement opportunity. <br />While each member of our organization carries the expectation of furthering the mission and <br />vision of the Police Department through delivering a high standard of service and building <br />good will in the community, the department also maintains a team of Community Engagement <br />Officers who pursue this as a specialty. Assignment to this team is an additional duty to their <br />primary patrol duties. The Community Engagement Team (CET) is comprised of five sworn <br />officers. Officer Tressa Sunde, Officer Jim South, Officer Kiel Rushton and Sgt. Mike Huddle <br />have been with the team for several years. Officer Jon Schlingman joined the team in early 2019. <br />Officer Schlingman brings important assets to the team, particularly his youth connections and <br />school connections through years of teaching D.A.R.E. All officers have graduated from MN <br />Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Crime Prevention Practitioners certification course. Officers <br />on this team develop and coordinate programs offered by the department including education <br />on personal safety, identity theft, workplace violence, senior safety and youth programs. They <br />also make use of the department’s official social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram <br />and Snapchat) to inform the public on crime trends, traffic issues, weather related events, and <br />issues of concern to the community.