SCPD Invited to Speak to Lawmakers About Crime Surge

(KNSI) – St. Cloud’s police chief testified to Minnesota lawmakers last week on the increase in crime statewide. The joint committee with Senators from the judiciary and transportation committees heard from several police chiefs and law enforcement experts, including St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson. He said police could only arrest criminals.

“Imagine how frustrating that is. If you’re the arresting officer and before you’re finished your report, that person’s back out on the street, and they don’t have the mindset of thinking that they’re getting a second chance so they’re going to reform. They continue to commit more crime.”

Many law enforcement officials who testified said there needed to be a conversation in St. Paul about prosecutorial discretion, saying county attorneys shouldn’t be allowed to pick which laws will be enforced. He testified that police had arrested the same person on nine felonies in a year before the person was prosecuted.

“We can’t arrest our way out of all of the problems we have. But when we do get the right people in handcuffs and take them to jail, that’s where they should stay. And for anybody who thinks that sounds too harsh, I would invite them to do a ride along when we circle back to check on the victims of those crimes. Ask their opinion.”

Chief Anderson says law enforcement needs to invest in what works and lawmakers need to support the programs showing results.

“Community engagement initiatives work, multidisciplinary teams, early and sustained intervention works. We need some permanent funding sources for those kinds of initiatives.”

Anderson stated St. Cloud has seen the biggest increase in calls for police in the last few years has been because of mental health issues. That’s why the department started the Critical Response Team, where a mental health professional is on patrol with an officer and can respond anywhere in the city.

“We’re not mental health professionals. And I’ll be honest and I don’t mean this to be sound as mean as it does but if I wanted to be a mental health professional, I would have gone to medical school and been a psychiatrist. But when we get those calls wrong, we’re vilified as being incompetent. That is not something that is in our wheelhouse.”

Anderson says in one case, they went from more than 100 contacts with a person for mental health reasons in a year to zero after having the Critical Response Team get that person help. The next step is to have a crises intervention team on call at all times for the SCPD. Anderson also highlighted the Community Outpost of COP House on St. Cloud’s Southside, which runs several youth groups and community outreach initiatives.

Maple Grove Senator Warren Limmer cited data from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that showed a 16% increase in violent crime with 185 murders in 2020 compared to 117 in 2019. He also said there was a 19.7% increase in motor vehicle theft, 26% increase in robberies, 22% increase in aggravated assaults, and 54% in thefts.

BCA data also showed a 62% increase in assaults on police. Officials say the increasing trend in crime started in August of 2019, well before the pandemic. No explanation for the surge in crime was given.

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