2020 St. Anthony PD Annual Report

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2020 Annual Report • Police Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota 32 | Page A new phenomenon in 2020 was the “drive-by parade”. Because of gathering restrictions due to COVID-19, many people asked family and friends to drive by their homes in a caravan to show support, congratulate, or celebrate a milestone. Our officers got the chance to participate in many of these last year. We drove into neighborhoods and past homes in motorcades of squad cars with lights and sirens on to honor graduates, wedding anniversaries, 100+ year old birthdays, kids’ birthdays, new births, and homecomings. It was just a small way we could get to celebrate with you. We’ll continue this into the future. An issue of importance that the community has been vocal about recently is street racing. This is not a new trend, however. Our patrol officers have been addressing street racing behavior along Hwy 280 in Lauderdale for over ten years. In later years, we’ve observed much larger groups that gather in nearby communities and travel through Lauderdale along Hwy 280, and now on Hwy 88 in St. Anthony. While there is little actual street racing occurring in Lauderdale or St. Anthony, the groups use our roadways to travel from one gathering point to another, often in large packs of vehicles, causing a disturbance due to vehicle noise. This activity has been happening throughout the metro area. With more and more complaints and concern from the public, the street racing problem has received the attention of the local news media. The community has identified and reported street racing as a traffic and pedestrian safety threat. Our entire patrol staff are aware of it and responsive to it. In 2020, like in years before, we partnered with the Minnesota State Patrol to coordinate enforcement efforts to address street racing in our jurisdiction. Sergeants Dokken and Huddle attended a Lauderdale City Council meeting to report on the police department’s strategy for reducing and deterring street racing and to answer questions from the council and community members. 2020 presented many challenges for everyone in our community. The mission of the Community Engagement Team is to improve, make progress and overcome challenges to connect people with the police department, as guided by our Department Strategic Plan. Our community will not accept excuses, and neither will our leaders. We’re taking lessons learned and becoming better equipped.