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Jon Collins
St. Paul

St. Paul police oversight commission recommends punishment in several incidents

St. Paul police squad car
St. Paul police squad car.
Tim Nelson | MPR News 2016

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The commission overseeing complaints against police officers in St. Paul found several allegations referred to it last year merited punishment, including suspensions.

Although the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission, or PCIARC, reviewed 63 allegations in 2017, they sustained just nine of them, according to the report issued at an annual meeting Tuesday. The commission exonerated officers in 19 allegations, found 11 allegations unfounded and didn't find sufficient evidence to make a ruling in 24 allegations.

The PCIARC recommended suspension tied to two allegations, written reprimands in two cases and verbal reprimands in three cases.

The commission did not provide details of the incidents that led to the allegations.

Chief Todd Axtell has the authority to reject or accept the commission's recommendations for discipline. In one case, a sergeant was suspended for five days without pay because he failed to investigate a sex crime against a juvenile that was reported in 2015, according to documents from the city.

In another case stemming from an incident in 2016, an officer was suspended without pay for one day because he'd confronted a bystander who was recording police and broke the bystander's tablet by throwing it on the ground.

In 2017, Axtell modified only one of the commission's recommendations. St. Paul Police Department spokesperson Steve Linders said the officer involved in the case resigned before an internal affairs investigation concluded, so the information isn't public.

The number of allegations in 2017 was slightly higher than the year before. The PCIARC also received slightly fewer allegations last year than in 2016.

Linders said the department appreciates the work of the commission.

The 2017 commission was the first that did not include police officers as members. Former Mayor Chris Coleman and the St. Paul City Council changed the ordinance governing the commission in 2016 to remove the two officers and put the commission under the auspices of the city's Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity.

PCIARC coordinator Julian Roby said the commission is expected to release its 2018 numbers next spring.