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.