St. Paul police readies new approach to using force

The St. Paul Police Department is overhauling its use-of-force guidelines using a new framework that spells out how officers should react to potentially violent suspects, and includes much more detail than the old policy. Before the department implements the policy, Chief Todd Axtell is gathering public input in a series of meetings this month.

At the first meeting on the east side of St. Paul, Sgt. Troy Greene, who trains rookies at the St. Paul Police Academy, told a small audience that officers in the city rarely do anything any more aggressive than handcuff a person. Greene said St. Paul police use force only about twice in every thousand citizen contacts.

"Ultimately, we don't want to use force. We would absolutely love it if every call we were able to go to, we didn't have to use it," Greene said.

The department's proposed use of force policy puts special emphasis on de-escalation. At its heart is a color-coded graph that indicates five levels of resistance officers may face. The levels range from "compliant" — in green, which carries a "low probability of causing injury." At the high end is "aggravated aggressive," in red, which is "likely to produce death or serious bodily injury."

The document also includes guidelines for the appropriate response, ranging from verbal commands to the use of firearms. Greene said the focus on suspects' behavior was not part of the old policy.

"Where the other model shows all the different levels of force that an officer may potentially use and the flow of that force, the new model does a really good job of showing the suspect's actions as it compares to the different levels of force," Greene said.

Michelle Gross with Communities United Against Police Brutality liked the guidelines overall, but said the policy needs to be explicit about the consequences for officers who run afoul of the rules.

Gross points to the case of Frank Baker. In June of 2016, police mistook him for an armed suspect and let loose a K-9. The dog mauled Baker's leg, and he received a $2 million settlement from the city. Chief Todd Axtell fired K-9 officer Brett Palkowitsch, but an arbitrator later reinstated him with back pay. The police union argued Palkowitsch should have another chance to work.

Gross urged the department to "include that kind of disciplinary reset wording in your policy that you could then really put a stake in the ground and say 'from now on it's this way,' and if you have violations, your discipline is more likely to stick."

Chief Axtell would not promise to include discipline in the use-of-force policy. But he did say the plan gives officers clear expectations and is upfront with the community.

"All of our actions have to be reasonable, necessary, and done with respect," Axtell said. "And as long as we do that, I think that's what our community expects, and they'll support our officers when they do just that."

The department holds two more community input sessions on the policy this month. Axtell says he hopes to implement it in about six weeks.