St. Paul's smart plan for crime prevention

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has smartly decided to invest $10 million right where it's needed most — violent crime reduction.

Much of the money is a one-time boon from the federal American Rescue Plan, which allows funds to be spent on public safety. Earlier this year, the city also accepted a $3.75 million "Community Oriented Policing Services" grant from the U.S. Justice Department that will allow it to hire 30 police officers. St. Paul plans to match that COPS grant with an additional $2 million.

In a city of 300,000, that represents a substantial investment in public safety.

But Carter is not just throwing money at the problem. This spending comes in the context of a multifaceted plan that knits together existing and new programs in a comprehensive approach that does justice to the complex nature of rising crime. The intent is not only to reduce crime and gun violence but to improve neighborhood safety overall, hire badly needed additional police officers, expand recreational opportunities that can keep trouble at bay, and even make driving and walking safer in every corner of the city.

"For decades, we have mistaken emergency response as an entire, complete public safety system," Carter said in announcing the plan. "We know that a complex, comprehensive public safety strategy also requires coordinated and proactive investments and interventions to reduce the likelihood that something dangerous happens in the first place." That, he said, makes it less likely that individuals will either commit or fall victim to crime.

Both sides of that equation are critical. Those who commit crimes often cause incalculable damage to their victims, their families, loved ones and themselves.

No one should expect a cure-all here. Nothing yet has succeeded in eliminating crime. But more effective mitigation, resulting in a city where residents can work, play, walk, commute and live in relative safety, is well worth the effort.

A new Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) will lead these efforts. At its head is someone steeped not just in St. Paul but in its oldest Black community. Brooke Blakey grew up in the Rondo neighborhood and like Carter, comes from a law enforcement family. A former Metro Transit officer, Blakey is also the daughter of Art Blakey, a former Ramsey County sheriff's deputy and Minnesota State Fair police chief. The ONS will work out of the city attorney's office and, Blakey was quick to say, will collaborate with St. Paul police.

One of the more critical facets of this plan is that police are integral to it. Police have been vilified of late, to the point where recruits have become too hard to find. Police should be held to high standards, and rogue officers must be dealt with. But law enforcement, done correctly, is critical to providing a safe city. Anyone who doubts it has only to see how Minneapolis is coping with a catastrophic shortage of officers that has crippled its ability to control its streets.

Under Carter's plan, some elements of which still need City Council approval, the city would issue up to $4 million in community-driven safety grants. More funds would go to address traffic issues that regularly jeopardize drivers and pedestrians alike. Libraries, which have evolved into de facto community centers, would get funds to develop much-needed public safety plans.

Gun violence is a growing problem affecting too many in St. Paul and elsewhere. Last year, the city posted a record number of homicides — 38. Just a little over the halfway mark for this year, the city has seen 22 homicides and more than 1,200 instances of shots fired, along with 136 gunshot victims. Interim Police Chief Jeremy Ellison is right to make reducing gun violence his department's top priority.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County Attorney who was among those standing with Carter during his announcement, praised the plan for its comprehensive approach, which, it should be noted, has been developed over many months and with community input. "So much of this is a coordinated approach," Klobuchar said. "St. Paul gets it."

It doesn't hurt that Carter has proposed this as a package of initiatives with a strong show of support from other elected officials. Substance matters, of course, and this proposal has that. But messaging matters too, and Carter is wise to show that he can address the need for more and better law enforcement along with crime prevention and community involvement. St. Paul needs all of it.

Editorial Board members are David Banks, Jill Burcum, Scott Gillespie, Denise Johnson, Patricia Lopez, John Rash and D.J. Tice. Star Tribune Opinion staff members Maggie Kelly and Elena Neuzil also contribute, and Star Tribune Publisher and CEO Michael J. Klingensmith serves as an adviser to the board.