St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson Announces Retirement

First published at 10:16 a.m. on August 19th

Update: 1:17 p.m.

(KNSI) — St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson is retiring.

He says he hopes his legacy is to stress the service aspect of the job, which he learned from his upbringing in Michigan. Anderson says his childhood inspired his views on the role of police in the community.

“If you’ve ever heard that African proverb, [it] takes a village to raise a child, I’m that kid. I grew up in a very violent neighborhood in Detroit. All I can remember from that is how much others invested in me, so that I could reach my full potential. So I tried to use this platform to pay back as much as I could, as often as I could.”

He says it is not an accident that marked police vehicles say “To serve and protect” on them, rather than the reverse.

Mayor Dave Kleis says this week is the 10-year anniversary of offering Anderson the job and says he has been a great leader. Before coming to St. Cloud, Anderson rose through the ranks within the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, starting there as an intern in 1995 and leaving as Commander in 2011 to serve as Chief Deputy in Carver County.

Kleis says, “There’s two ways to lead. There’s a way to lead by fear and lead by respect. And the department respects Chief Anderson. That respect is shown in the respect that they transfer to the community.”

Kleis said police chiefs don’t usually last 10 years, but attributes the longevity to a strong commitment to public safety by city officials and the department.

Anderson says the job isn’t possible without the support of friends and family, who have to live with the fact you are always on call. Even then, it wears on you quickly.

“We age in dog years in this profession, and the last couple of years have been exponentially harder than the first 25.”

Anderson’s retirement is official on November 30th. His replacement is Assistant Chief Jeffrey Oxton, the first internal promotion for the top job in at least three decades. Anderson says when he took the job, it was Oxton who was first to show support for him.

Anderson says, “I don’t know if Jeff is omniscient or he saw it on my face, but he walked into my office one day and he said, “You know, I feel like my chief is by himself on an island and I don’t like that. And so I want you to know that there are far more people in your corner than have been revealed thus far.” And I will never forget that.”

Oxton grew up in St. Cloud before going to the University of North Dakota for criminal justice. Oxton was also a wrestler at the school. He talked about getting hired in his hometown 27 years ago at a press conference on Friday.

Oxton says, “When you’re young, there’s a thought that in order to be successful, you need to go away from home to succeed. And some of that I was dealing with as well. It took me about two months working here, maybe even shorter than that, to see the people and the passion and the culture of this police department and the city, and it made me know this is the place.”

Oxton says he is like a twin to Anderson. He says the penchant for new ideas and a focus on the community will not change under his watch. Anderson is stepping down after 10 years as chief.

St. Cloud Police Chief poses for photos after announcing his upcoming retirement. Also included in the photo are Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington and Bloomington, MN Police Chief Booker T. Hodges, both to the right of Anderson.

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