FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2020

CONTACT: 
Peter Leggett
peter.leggett@ci.stpaul.mn.us
651-307-8603


Mayor Carter Announces 48 Members To Serve on Saint Paul’s Community-First Public Safety Commission

Commission To Convene For 5 Months In Process Led By The Citizens League To Re-Envision Emergency Response In Saint Paul

Commission To Provide Recommendations to the Mayor and City Council In May 2021

SAINT PAUL, MN - Today, Mayor Carter announced the full membership of the Community-First Public Safety Commission. The 48 members include a broad array of voices from the public and private sectors, nonprofit, community and neighborhood organizations, educational institutions, peace officer associations, city commissions, labor and advocacy organizations, healthcare, philanthropy, and residents.

The Commission will focus on alternative first-response options to priority-4 and priority-5 calls for service, and approaches for ongoing community involvement in the City’s Community-First Public Safety Plan, including considering the creation of a city-staffed office to drive and integrate this work. The Commission will convene for 5 months in a process led by the Citizens League, and will provide recommendations to the Mayor and City Council in May 2021.

"The broad spectrum of voices on this commission will be invaluable in transforming our emergency response systems for the future,” said Mayor Carter. “I thank the members for committing to this effort and look forward to their recommendations.”

COMMISSION MEMBERS

  • Acooa Ellis, Commission Co-Chair , Twin Cities United Way
  • John Marshall, Commission Co-Chair, Xcel Energy
  • Commissioner Toni Carter, Ramsey County Board Board of Commissioners District 4
  • Judge Nicole J. Starr, Ramsey County 2nd Judicial District Court
  • Councilmember Mitra Jalali, Saint Paul City Council, Ward 4
  • Director Chauntyll Allen, Saint Paul Public School Board of Education
  • Sue Abderholden, NAMI Minnesota
  • Ahmed Anshur, Masjid Al-Ihsan Islamic Center/ISAIAH
  • Cedrick Baker, Saint Paul Public Schools
  • Sami Barnat, Student
  • Jason Barnett, Resident At-Large
  • Rev. Dr. Ron Bell, Camphor Memorial U.M.C./ St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance
  • Monica Bravo, West Side Community Organization
  • Scott Burns, Structural
  • Chikamso Chijoke, Saint Paul Youth Commission
  • Samuel Clark, Resident At-Large
  • JoAnn Clark, Resident At-Large
  • Sasha Cotton, African American Leadership Council
  • Sierra Cumberland, Saint Paul Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission
  • Natalia Davis, Resident At-Large / Irreducible Grace
  • Julio Fesser, Securian Financial
  • Ameen Ford, Resident At-Large
  • Anna-Marie Foster, Saint Paul Youth Commission
  • Simone Hardeman-Jones, GreenLight Fund Twin Cities
  • Suwayda Hussein, Saint Paul Youth Commission
  • Laura Jones, Root and Restore Saint Paul
  • David Squier Jones, Center for Homicide Research
  • Clara Junemann, Saint Paul Youth Commission
  • Farhio Khalif, Saint Paul NAACP
  • Suwana Kirkland, National Black Police Association
  • Alicia Lucio, Resident At-Large
  • Wintana Melekin, Resident At-Large
  • Stephen Moore, Culture Booster
  • Amin Omar, Horn of Africa
  • Francisco "Frank" Ortiz, National Latino Police Officers Association
  • Maureen Perryman, Resident At-Large
  • Amy Peterson, HealthPartners
  • President Suzanne Rivera, Macalester College
  • Mark Ross, Saint Paul Police Federation
  • Garaad Sahal, Somali Peace Officers Association
  • Mario Stokes, AFSCME
  • Olyvia Rayne Taylor, Student
  • LyLy Vang-Yang, TakeAction MN
  • Teshite Wako, Oromo Community Center
  • Jai Winston, Knight Foundation
  • Heather Worthington, Resident At-Large
  • Pheng Xiong, Asian Peace Officers Association
  • Otis Zanders, Ujamaa Place

In addition to Commission members, city department and governmental partners will participate in the process to provide additional support for this work, including representatives from:

  • City of Saint Paul
    • Saint Paul Police Department
    • Saint Paul Fire Department
    • Saint Paul Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity
    • Saint Paul Parks and Recreation
    • Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office
    • Saint Paul Libraries
    • Saint Paul Mayor’s Office
    • Saint Paul Human Resources
    • Saint Paul Office of Technology & Communications
    • Saint Paul Financial Services
  • Ramsey County
    • Ramsey County Transforming Systems
    • Ramsey County Social Services
    • Ramsey County Public Health
    • Ramsey County Attorney’s Office
    • Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office
    • Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center

ABOUT COMMISSION PROCESS


Through a process led by the Citizens League, the Commission will examine a wide range of policy ideas for alternative emergency response models. Executive Director Kate Cimino and Director of Public Policy Amanda Koonjbeharry from Citizens League will serve as project leads. The Commission will convene twice per month starting in December and will establish subcommittees as needed.

The project budget is $61,650, paid for through the City’s Innovation Fund. The project will be independent of the City of Saint Paul and the project will follow the Citizens League’s operating guidelines as stated in the organization’s Governing Document. A final report and recommendations from the Commission will be presented to the Mayor and City Council in May 2021.

ABOUT COMMUNITY-FIRST PUBLIC SAFETY FRAMEWORK


Mayor Carter’s Community-First Public Safety Framework prioritizes investments that are proven to make our most vulnerable children and families more secure in our homes and neighborhoods, and centers around:

  • Improving community connectivity & supports;
  • Designing public spaces for safety; and
  • Enhancing the capacity of public safety systems.

In 2020, the Community-First Public Safety Framework invests more than $1 million in proven, data-driven and evidence-based approaches from around the country and world, and leverages public, private and philanthropic investments to maximize public resources. The framework engages 9 different city departments in a comprehensive public safety strategy, reflects community-driven priorities from over 1,000 Saint Paul residents who’ve participated in Mayor’s Office community engagement events in 2019, and invests directly in community-based resources & capacity to address localized challenges.

ABOUT PRIORITY CALL DESIGNATION


The Saint Paul Police Department uses a classification system for radio calls with five priority designations as follows:

  • Priority 1 and 2 calls are designated as emergency.
  • Priority 3 calls are designated as urgent.
  • Priority 4 and 5 calls are designated as routine.

General Priority guidelines include these types of calls:

  • Priority-1
    • Officer down, injured, or needs immediate assistance in a critical situation.
  • Priority-2
    • Any crime in progress.
    • Activity which indicates a crime is about to be committed or has just been committed where suspects are in the area.
    • Any matter which the caller reasonably indicates is of an urgent matter.
    • Intrusion or robbery alarm.
    • Any matter involving serious personal injury or imminent threat of serious injury.
    • Emergency assistance required by the fire department (not DOAs).
    • Physical domestics
  • Priority-3
    • Domestics, neighbor trouble, etc., where no threat of personal safety exists.
    • Suspicious people, vehicles, window peepers, prowlers, trespassers, exposers, etc.
    • Traffic crashes, no personal injury.
    • Assist the fire department with a DOA.
    • Fights, mutual affrays, without weapons.
    • Assist any agency not amounting to priority 1 or priority 2.
    • Report of a citizen holding a suspect not amounting to a priority 1 or 2, does not include shoplifters.
  • Priority-4
    • Offense reports where no suspect is present and no personal threat exists.
    • Assist citizens in non-emergency matters.
    • Shoplifters being held by store security personnel.
    • Drunks, emotionally disturbed persons, disorderly persons, not threatening physical harm.
  • Priority 5
    • Miscellaneous request for service.
    • Barking dogs.
    • Loud party.
    • Loud radios, etc.
    • Parking complaints.

Radio Call Priority designation information is available at https://www.stpaul.gov/books/44105-radio-call-priorities

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Last Edited: July 26, 2022