About
the Saint Paul Police Department
In 2004, the Saint
Paul Police Department had over 700 employees. Of those, 547 were sworn law enforcement
officers. Under the direction of the Chief of Police, two Assistant Chiefs command
the largest portion of the Saint Paul Police Department resources. The Assistant
Chief of Operations and Proactive Services has the patrol personnel, narcotics, vice, volunteer services as well as the FORCE
Unit.
The Assistant Chief
of the Major Crimes and Support Services Division has all of the typical detective functions like auto theft, fraud and homicide;
as well as other specialized functions like the crime lab and property division.
In 1992, the Saint
Paul Police Department established the FORCE Unit; and acronym for Focusing Our Resources on Community Empowerment. This unit uses several strategies to fight crime such as crime prevention and targeting
problem properties.
The crime prevention
initiative involves two crime prevention officers and three crime prevention coordinators work together with citizens, neighborhood
groups and the district councils to help prevent crime and organize block clubs. They also work with the following groups/services:
Crime Free Multi-Housing Program; Excessive Consumption of Police Services Ordinance; Graffiti; Minnesota Crime Alert Network;
National Night Out – 2007; Operation Identification; Crime Prevention tips
A second FORCE strategy
is to target problem properties and street level narcotic activities. Using the community as a base of information, they have
received more than 12,000 complaints on problem properties since the unit's inception. On average, the unit has executed more
than 120 search warrants and made more than 1,000 arrests per year.