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2020 Annual Report • Police Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota <br /> <br /> <br />27 | Page <br /> <br />XII. Community Engagement Summary <br />PREPARED BY SERGEANT MIKE HUDDLE <br />Of all the things that could be said of the year 2020, declaring that connecting and engaging <br />with one another was “difficult” would be a severe understatement. Nor does it give a <br />complete description. In fact, connecting in a close personal way could be dangerous, if not <br />deadly. Our community’s businesses suffered, our families suffered loss, already marginalized <br />populations became further isolated, and even our schools halted operations before resuming in <br />very limited capacities. Through all of this, the expectation that <br />police services continued uninterrupted remained. As a police <br />department, we could not stop serving or engaging our <br />community at a high level, even during a pandemic. But, like <br />many organizations, we found we weren’t as prepared as we <br />wished we had been to overcome challenges we faced. <br />Members of our Community Engagement Team found <br />frustration with circumstances, but we’ve looked for ways to <br />work around challenges. We’re still working on overcoming <br />many of the obstacles that a pandemic presents for <br />engagement. <br />This report will account for the engagement programs that were planned, but ultimately <br />canceled due to restrictions in place, or out of an abundance of caution to prevent spread of <br />COVID-19. This summary will also touch on strategies and activities we engaged in with the <br />community that allowed us to still engage in a safe way. <br />The St. Anthony Police Department has a team of Officers, the Community Engagement Team <br />(CET), which focuses on developing relationships within the community, educating and <br />informing the public on matters related to the police department, police work and crime, <br />increasing transparency and earning trust, seeking out input from community stakeholders, <br />and reducing crime. CET works in direct support of the goals and objective identified in the St. <br />Anthony Police Department Strategic Plan. In 2020, the team consists of five members (Officer <br />Tressa Sunde, Officer Jim South, Officer Jon Schlingman, Officer Kiel Rushton, and Sergeant <br />Mike Huddle). All members of this team have successfully completed a 40-hour Crime <br />Prevention Specialist course through the BCA. Assignment to this team requires duties above