# Saint Paul Police Department *Municipal police agency with jurisdiction over Saint Paul, Minnesota* The Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) serves as the principal law enforcement agency for the City of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]. It was founded in 1854, which makes it the oldest police organization in [[Minnesota]], and it is the second-largest law enforcement agency in the state, behind the [[Minneapolis Police Department]].[^1] Its Wikipedia entry lists 575 sworn officers and 200 non-sworn staff. As of the entry's retrieval on 27 October 2026, the chief was Axel Henry, sworn in November 2022 as the department's 42nd chief.[^1] The founding date, staffing, history and other figures in this article rest on that secondary entry, because this record holds no primary document for them.[^1] The department appears in one pair in the project's at-issue record, AI-Ramsey-090. In that pair a Saint Paul Police commander explains a gap in charging: "We as a department didn't really have the ability to start going after these burglaries."[^2] The pair records that the department had committed resources to street response during an emergency, and it sets the department's own public explanation beside the outcome that explanation accounts for.[^2] ## Who Axel Henry has held the post of chief since November 2022 and is the 42nd chief in the department's history, according to the entry as retrieved.[^1] In 1920 Aloysius Smith, a St. Paul councilman who was also Public Safety Commissioner, asked the department to begin a police program for young people. Sergeant Frank Hetznecke was chosen to build the program. The entry credits him with introducing the Sam Browne belt and badge that later identified school patrols nationally, and with running Saint Paul's program for 30 years.[^3] Chief Thomas Brown was dismissed in 1936 after an investigation showed that he had protected criminals, including the Dillinger and Barker-Karpis gangs. The entry places this dismissal in its account of the department during the Prohibition era.[^3] The commander quoted in the at-issue pair is not named in the record.[^2] ## What Under the department's contract, every investigator (detective) holds the rank of sergeant.[^4] A uniformed sergeant wears one arc beneath the chevrons for each five years since promotion. After the third arc, each later five-year period adds first a diamond and then a star in the space between the arcs and the chevrons. The entry compares this insignia to that of the United States Army but states that it carries no added command authority.[^4] The department has awarded medals and awards only since 1971. The entry lists the current honors as the 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, Professional Staff of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year, which was added in 2026.[^5] ## When When the department was founded in 1854, it had no stationhouse. Officers took prisoners to the brig at [[Fort Snelling]] until the city built a jail.[^1] The youth program requested in 1920 held its first student-monitored crossing in February 1921. Students from Cathedral school staffed the crossing on Kellogg Blvd.[^3] The entry records the following events in the department's later history: - an arrest outside a bar on 26 September 2010, which became the subject of a lawsuit claiming excessive force; - the disbanding of the Gang Strike Force in March 2011, following a state audit; - two incidents of misconduct involving department dogs, in 2016 and 2017.[^3] ## How much The 2011 state audit of the Gang Strike Force could not account for more than $18,000 in cash and 13 vehicles that the unit had seized. According to the entry, the auditor's report indicated that an officer had sold property his detail had kept.[^3] Press reports cited in the entry state that the unit used money taken from gang members to attend a professional conference in Hawaii in 2009. This record holds neither the audit report nor those press reports.[^3] ## How many - **Staffing:** the entry gives the department's strength as 575 sworn officers and 200 non-sworn staff.[^1] - **Youth program:** 750 students enrolled in the first year.[^3] - **Growth:** the entry states that Saint Paul's population began to fall in the late 1960s, as in most major cities, while the department kept growing. It gives no figures for either trend.[^6] ## In the at-issue record Pair AI-Ramsey-090 is ranked 90 in the record's tier on the city, the schools and 2020. It is drawn from entry E-R14 of the Ramsey claims exposure matrix dated 2 September 2026.[^2] The pair quotes a Saint Paul Police commander's on-record explanation for a gap in charging: "We as a department didn't really have the ability to start going after these burglaries." It records that the department had committed resources to street response during the emergency, and that the department stated this constraint in public.[^2] The matrix lists two underlying news sources, the Minnesota Reformer and the Star Tribune. Neither is reproduced in this record.[^2] The project anchors the pair to the March 2025 presidential action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*. That instrument is not the source of the quotation, and this record does not state what it says about the department.[^2] The record shows that the department publicly stated a limit on its capacity. It does not establish: - the commander's identity; - the period or size of the charging gap; - which emergency is meant; - the outcome of any burglary case.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Saint Paul Police Department*, lead section (revision 1380356197, retrieved 27 October 2026) — founding in 1854, oldest and second-largest Minnesota agency, early use of the Fort Snelling brig, staffing of 575 sworn and 200 non-sworn, Chief Axel Henry; secondary source, no primary record in the pack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Police_Department [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *Ramsey_Claims_Exposure_Matrix_2026-09-02.md*, entry E-R14, pair AI-Ramsey-090 (2 September 2026) — the commander's quoted statement and the commitment of resources to street response, as drawn by the matrix from Minnesota Reformer and Star Tribune reporting (not in the pack); the URL given is the pair's White House anchor, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025), which is not the source of the quotation. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Saint Paul Police Department*, "History" section (revision 1380356197, retrieved 27 October 2026) — the 1920 youth program and the February 1921 crossing, the 1936 dismissal of Chief Brown, the 2010 excessive-force suit, the March 2011 Gang Strike Force audit and disbanding, the 2009 conference, and the 2016 and 2017 dog incidents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Police_Department [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Saint Paul Police Department*, "Command structure" section (revision 1380356197, retrieved 27 October 2026) — contractual sergeant rank for investigators and the service insignia for sergeants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Police_Department [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Saint Paul Police Department*, "Department awards" section (revision 1380356197, retrieved 27 October 2026) — awards issued since 1971 and the current list, with Volunteer of the Year added in 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Police_Department [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Saint Paul Police Department*, "Department size" section (revision 1380356197, retrieved 27 October 2026) — city population decline from the late 1960s alongside the department's continued growth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Police_Department