St. Cloud Police Give Council Public Safety Presentation

(KNSI) – Data from the St. Cloud Police Department shows that violent crime was up in 2020 and the first part of 2021. The numbers were shown at this week’s city council meeting during a public safety presentation.

The St. Cloud Police Department says the data comes from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the St. Cloud Police Department’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. Part one crimes include murder, aggravated robbery, robbery, rape, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. St. Cloud Assistant Police Cheif Jeff Oxton broke down the numbers for the council.

“We did see an increase in 2020 of part one crimes. So in 2020, you see we have an increase of 529 calls in those part one crime categories. It is an increase. You saw it on the chart. It is a spike. It’s not the highest year we’ve ever had, but it is a spike.”

The most significant jump in crimes in 2020 was in thefts up 501, motor vehicle theft up 63, burglaries up 55, robberies up 15, and arson up 10. Other level one crimes such as aggravated robbery and rape were down. Part two crimes, considered less severe, include assaults, forgery, fraud, vandalism, disorderly conduct, and vagrancy. There was a decrease in part two crimes by more than 200 in St. Cloud in 2020.

From January 1st to September 30th, 2021, police data shows that most level one crimes in St. Cloud have dropped. However, Oxton says St. Cloud is dealing with a disturbing trend.

“An area where we’ve seen increases, and I told you we’re not immune to this stuff going on, is gun violence. And gun violence is something that we hear about all over the state and all over the country. And we’ve seen that here as well. So that’s significant to us, and we see more guns in the hands of those who are not supposed to have guns and committing crimes with guns. And that’s one of the challenges we have before us right now.”

St. Cloud has 76 gunshot reports so far in 2021 compared to 60 at this time last year. Over the same period, there have been 61 reports of a person with a gun, up 24 compared to 2020.

Councilmember Dave Masters asked about getting Shot Spotter readers in the city. SCPD Chief Blair Anderson says they looked into the technology a few years ago and stated it could cost up to a million dollars to cover one city block. At the time, St. Cloud officials felt that was too expensive.

St. Cloud has also tied 2015’s record for homicides with four so far in 2021. In 2021, St. Cloud police have reported getting around 43,000 calls for service and making more than 6,000 traffic stops.

St. Cloud has started to use private security in parking ramps, put cameras around Lake George, and use cops on bikes to patrol the city.

Police say St. Cloud is also getting more overdose reports. In 2020, St. Cloud reported 62 overdoses, mainly from fentanyl pills. That’s compared to 27 in 2019 and 28 overdose calls in 2018.

St. Cloud’s mayor has proposed hiring four new officers and taking on the salaries of three St. Cloud State University Officers to help patrol the city. St. Cloud is also looking to add another prosecutor.

According to the latest census, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis says the city has a residential population of around 68,000 but needs a police force for the daytime population of about 180,000 because the city is a regional center with many visitors.

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