Duluth Police Canal Park Officers

The League of Minnesota Cities held its Annual Conference in Duluth during the last week of June. As part of the planning process, League staff met with the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) staff well before the conference. In addition to a walkthrough of the facility and a review of the schedule, the DECC staff suggested we check in with “their” Duluth Police Department’s Canal Park Community Officer. They gave us his phone number and email address, and the DECC staff told us this program of police outreach has been very successful.

Upon returning to St. Paul, I followed up and sent Duluth Officer Mike Jambor an email introducing myself, and I provided him with a brief outline of the conference. Twenty minutes later, I received a phone call from Officer Jambor. He wanted more information about the conference and explained that he and his partners were assigned to the Canal Park area, including the DECC. He said they work with the area merchants, hotels, restaurants, bars, visitors, and the DECC staff in planning and problem solving. He made sure we knew how to contact his unit if we had any questions or issues before or during the conference.

The first day of the conference, Officer Jambor came to the DECC and introduced himself to our staff and looked at the conference layout. That happened each day of the conference with either Mike or his partners walking through and introducing themselves. We did have a very minor incident where a man who appeared to be confused wandered into the lobby and then ran out of the area. The DECC staff notified the police department, who quickly found the man and got him the medical help he needed. And afterward, Officer Jambor got back to us with an overview of what happened.

The Duluth Police Canal Park Community Officer program is more than just public relations. It is also about increasing the police department’s situational awareness of what is occurring daily in what has become one of the top tourist and conference locations in the region.

Kudos to the Duluth Police Department on this outstanding and responsive program.

Up next: First Responders - Reducing Stigma, Providing Aid

Stay safe,
Rob

Force Science Realistic De-escalation

I’m excited and proud to announce that the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) is sponsoring Force Science Realistic De-escalation Training this fall. I have taken this one-day course, and I highly recommend it. 

It’s about responding to these difficult calls with realistic tactics based on research. It’s about everyone’s safety: the officer’s, the subject’s, and the family’s. It is about officers using the “discretionary time” some calls allow to get tactics and resources in place. 

During this day-long workshop, you will: 

• Understand what de-escalation really means, and when it’s most likely to be successful 
• Learn how to quickly recognize whether a subject is in conflict or crisis—and which tactics will be most likely to defuse the situation 
• Review the best ways to make a connection, establish rapport, and apply proven principles of persuasion with difficult individuals 
• Practice the principles of officer self-regulation and emotional control that will help you maintain rational thinking 
• Discover how to help community members and the media better understand what realistic de-escalation entails—and the challenges that can inhibit an officer’s ability to safely de-escalate 
• Leave with tools that you can use on the job during high-pressure encounters 

The Force Science Institute presenters will be Chris Butler and Nicole Florisi.

The cost of the course is being underwritten by the League for LMC members.

• $50 (including lunch) for League of Minnesota Cities members 
• $295 (including lunch) for non-League of Minnesota Cities members

Credits: Earn 8 POST credits that satisfy the new Learning Objectives for Mental Health/Crisis Intervention

Please note: You must attend the full day of training to receive these credits. 

Dates & Locations:

Sept. 10—Mankato 

8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Courtyard by Marriott Hotel & Event Center

901 Raintree Rd. (view map)

Mankato, MN 56001

(507) 388-1234

Sept. 11—Shoreview

Shoreview Community Center

8 a.m.-4 p.m.

4580 Victoria St. N (view map)

Shoreview, MN 55126

(651) 490-4700

Sept. 17—Perham

Perham Lakeside Golf Club

8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

320 17th St. NW (view map)

Perham, MN 56573

(218) 346-6070

Get more information and register here.

Up next: Duluth’s Community Policing in Canal Park

Stay safe,

Rob

Uniform Crime Report

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has just released the Uniform Crime Reports for 2018. The report is the compilation of data submitted to the BCA by the state’s law enforcement agencies. It contains the types of crimes, number of crimes, ages of victims, ages of suspect, and even the types of weapons used.

It is very tempting to compare the data to the previous year, but I find value in watching how the data is trending over a series of years. Reading the report is chance to increase situational awareness and look at what the statistics indicate about Minnesota’s law enforcement efforts.

• The report shows there were 104 murders in 2018, which is down from 114 in 2017. A five-year look shows the number fluctuates—with 82 in 2014, 130 in 2015, and 100 in 2014. Robberies and aggravated assaults were down compared to 2017, but rapes were up 9%.
  
  
• The number of people arrested appears to be steady with past years’ numbers: 105,329 men and 42,914 women were arrested in 2018. Arrests for meth, opioids, heroin, and cocaine were up—but the number of arrests for marijuana was down from 9,495 in 2017 to 8,752 in 2018. The five-year high for marijuana arrests was 11,590 in 2014.
  
  
• In the category of “Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted,” the data indicated 487 officers were assaulted in 416 incidents. The most frequent activity for assault was responding to disturbance calls (161), followed by handling prisoners (107). There were no officers killed in 2018.
  
  
• On page 50 of the report are the links to crime rate information that presents an agency-by-agency breakout of the jurisdiction crime rates and the percent of cases the agency has cleared.
  
  

The link to the data can be found on the BCA’s Criminal Justice Data Reporting section of their website.

Up next: Force Science: Realistic De-escalation Training is coming to Minnesota in September

Stay safe,
Rob