Saint Paul Police Department
History
In 1920 St. Paul Councilman and Public Safety Commissioner Aloysius Smith, requested that the St. Paul Police start a Police program for the youth. Sergeant Frank Hetznecke was selected to create the program. In its first year, 750 students signed up for the training program and in February 1921 the first student monitored crossing took place with students from Cathedral school on Kellogg Blvd. Sergeant Hetznecke is credited with introducing the Sam Browne belt and badge that became synonymous with school patrol across the country and administering St. Paul's program for 30 years.
During the Prohibition era, the department was remarkably corrupt. In 1936, the chief, Thomas Brown was fired after an investigation showed he had protected criminals including the Dillinger and the Barker-Karpis gangs.
An arrest outside of a bar on 26 September 2010 is the subject of a lawsuit that claims excessive force. In March 2011, the elite Gang Strike Force was disestablished when a state audit could not account for 13 vehicles and over $18,000 in cash the unit had seized. The auditor's report indicated that Officer Ron Ryan had sold property his detail had retained. Press reports indicated the unit used money taken from gang members to attend a 2009 professional conference held in Hawaii. The SPPD had two prominent incidents of misconduct in relation to their dogs in 2016 and 2017.
Command structure
Title | Insignia |
---|---|
Chief of Police | ![]() |
Assistant Chief of Police | ![]() |
Deputy Chief of Police | ![]() |
Senior Commander | ![]() |
Commander | ![]() |
Sergeant (see note) | ![]() |
Police Officer |
NOTE: By contract, all investigators (detectives) hold the rank of sergeant.
- The time that a uniformed sergeant holds this rank is shown by arcs below the chevrons, one for each 5 years after promotion. After three are obtained the next 5 year periods give progressively a diamond and then a star in the field between the arcs and chevrons. Although this is analogous to the uniforms of the United States Army, no additional command authority is granted.
List of Chief of Police
Name | Dates |
---|---|
William R. Miller | 1854-1858 |
John W. Crosby | 1858-1859 |
John O'Gorman | 1859-1861 |
Horace H. Western | 1861 |
James Gooding | 1861-1863 |
Michael Cummings | 1863-1864 |
John R. Cleveland | 1864-1865 |
George Turnbull | 1865-1866 |
John Jones | 1866-1867 |
James P. McIlrath | 1867-1870 |
Luther J. Eddy | 1870-1872 |
James P. McIlrath | 1872-1874 |
James King | 1875-1878 |
Charles Weber Jr. | 1875-1878 |
John Clark | 1883-1892 |
Albert Garvin | 1892-1894 |
John Clark | 1894-1896 |
Michael N. Goss | 1896-1900 |
Parker L. Getchell | 1900 |
John J. O'Connor | 1900-1912 |
Frederick M. Catlin | 1912 |
Martin J. Flanagan | 1912-1913 |
Michael Gebhardt | 1913-1914 (Acting) |
John J. O'Connor | 1914-1920 |
Thomas E. Campbell | 1920-1921 |
Henry J. Crepeau | 1921-1922 |
Michael Gebhardt | 1922 |
Frank W. Sommer | 1922-1923 |
Michael Gebhardt | 1923-1924 |
Edward J. Murnane | 1924-1930 |
Thomas E. Dahill | 1930 (Acting) |
Thomas A. Brown | 1930-1932 |
Thomas E. Dahill | 1932-1934 |
Frank R. Cullen | 1934 |
Michael J. Culligan | 1934-1935 |
Gustave H. Barfuss | 1935 |
Charles W. Coulter | 1935-1936 |
Clinton A. Hackert | 1936-1943 |
Charles J. Tierney | 1943-1952 |
Neal McMahon | 1952-1954 |
Albert A. Anderson | 1954-1955 (Acting) |
William F. Proetz | 1955-1961 |
Frank A. Schmidt | 1960-1961 (Acting) |
Lester McAuliffe | 1961-1970 |
Robert LaBathe | 1970 (Acting) |
Richard H. Rowan | 1970-1979 |
Robert LaBathe | 1980 |
William W. McCutcheon | 1980-1992 |
William Finney | 1992-2004 |
J. Mark Harrington | 2004-2010 |
Thomas E. Smith | 2010-2016 |
Kathy Wuorinen | 2016 (Interim) |
Todd D. Axtell | 2016-2022 |
Jeremy A. Ellison | 2022 (Interim) |
Axel C. Henry | 2022- |
Department awards
The department has only issued medals / awards since 1971. The current medals are:
- Medal of Valor Class A
- Medal of Merit Class B
- Medal of Commendation
- Life Saving Award
- Chief's Award For Valor
- Chief's Award For Merit
- Chief's Award
- Officer of the Year
- Detective of the Year
- Civilian Employee of the year
Department size
Like most major cities, the city of St. Paul saw a population decline beginning in the late 1960s. However, the department continued to grow.
Year | City Population | Sworn Officers | Non-Sworn Law Enforcement Personnel |
---|---|---|---|
1849 | 910 | 4 | |
1858 | 7,000 | 11 | |
1863 | 10,401 | 10 | |
1871 | 20,030 | 19 | |
1888 | 133,156 | 160 | |
1900 | 163,065 | 195 | |
1920 | 234,698 | 357 | |
1930 | 271,606 | 358 | |
1940 | 287,736 | 345 | |
1950 | 311,329 | 368 | 26 |
1960 | 313,411 | 389 | 43 |
1970 | 309,980 | 463 | 69 |
1983 | 270,230 | 495 | |
1990 | 272,235 | 524 | 131 |
2000 | 287,151 | 547 | 211 |
2010 | 285,068 | 560 | 300 |
2013 | 290,770 | 630 | 350 |
2023 | 303,176 | 575 | 225 |