St. Paul Police Federation president Dave Titus' statement on mailing

The statement below has been issued by Dave Titus, President of the St. Paul Police Federation.

"My executive board of the Saint Paul Police Federation had little to no involvement in the political activities of the past week. As President of the Saint Paul Police Federation and Chair of the Federation Political Awareness Committee, I take full responsibility. I regret the distraction this has caused during such an important mayoral race and period of violent crime in our City. I regret the negative attention this has brought on the Police Federation Executive Committee and membership. The Saint Paul Police Federation Political Awareness Committee will be stopping all political activities for the remainder of this election.

The letter released by the Federation on Tuesday was an ill-advised political attack meant to highlight inconsistencies, that was in no way shape or form racially motivated. Once the ramifications of the letter became clear I issued a sincere apology to the Carter Family, an apology I reiterate today. I then made a request that Building a Better Saint stop all communications, mail or otherwise, regarding this topic as it had become racial charged which was not the intent of anyone involved. Unfortunately, the campaign mailer that arrived in mailboxes yesterday had already been sent. In no way were we implying these guns were used in the commission of a crime, rather that we need a Mayor whose priority is public safety.

As to the calls for my resignation, I'm elected by the membership of the Saint Paul Police Federation. I have an open-door for discussion with any member. When my term expires, my members have the opportunity judge me by my overall body of work."