‘Pastors, people and police’ weigh approaches to curb gun violence in St. Paul
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Even before the mass shooting at the Seventh Street Truck Park last month, the city of St. Paul was trying to contain rising gunfire and homicides.
Rev. Runney D. Patterson Sr. of New Hope Baptist Church was planning to spend three weeks over the summer focusing his outreach efforts on crime hot spots around the city.
Months later, Patterson said the work is not finished.
“We’ve built a great relationship with the community,” he said.
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Patterson’s “ministry of presence” usually consists of volunteers and faith leaders working with one police officer to connect community members with mental health and house resources.
On a recent weeknight, Patterson and his team are doing outreach at a mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic set up in a parking lot along Rice Street near the state Capitol.
“Pastors, people and police,” Patterson said. “Sometimes I say clergy, cops and citizens, it’s going to take all of us out here, police can’t do it all.
Patterson said the hard work seems endless amid a pandemic that has ravaged lives, and high levels of gun violence in St. Paul.
In the past 17 years, Patterson has performed more than 50 funerals for Black men who died violently.
“I want to go to a football game and watch them make touchdowns, perform their wedding ceremonies,” Patterson said. “Something that is happy and joyful.”
The capital city has had more than 30 homicides so far in 2021, nearing the record of 34 set in 1992, and matched in 2020.
Shots fired and gunshot wound victims are also up over last year. Chief Todd Axtell calls 2021 the worst for crime in recent history.
“It’s a new dynamic we are seeing, a lot of activity going on in all different corners of our city,” he said.
Axtell wants to fully staff the homicide unit, which even now he credits with a 90 percent solve-rate, far ahead of the national average of around 60 percent. But he says the focus on homicides leaves less for lower-level but more common crimes, “like auto thefts, catalytic converter thefts, much more than we have seen in the past.”
He also is concerned about his department’s ability to respond to 911 calls in a timely manner.
Axtell asked city leaders to approve more police spending than outlined in the draft 2022 budget set to be finalized in December. Axtell’s goal is to have filled all 620 sworn officer positions. The department has 524 deployable officers, those not injured or on leave. Axtell said 90 percent of his budget goes to personnel costs.
“It’s also true that the number of officers in this department has gone down over the last three years,” the chief said. “I’m not spending the money on fancier squad cars and other things. Costs continue to go up.”
Last week, Axtell announced he would not seek another six-year appointment as St. Paul’s police chief. He steps down in June.
In 2020, violent crime surged 17 percent across Minnesota, including a record number of murders, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Mayor Melvin Carter said there is no quick fix to curb gun violence, not even more officers.
“We have to be willing to ask all the questions. We have to be willing to ask the Legislature what it can do differently.” Carter said, “That seems to be clear. We have to be willing to ask how we can police differently.”
Carter said crime in downtown St. Paul was at a five-year low over the summer of 2020. The mayor pointed out the city raised police spending by millions in recent years. Carter’s proposed 2022 budget again increases police spending.
The city approved the largest police academy in its history and $1 million in police overtime costs, Carter added. The new officers will not be ready to work in the community until July.
The city is also in the process of hiring a director for a new Office of Neighborhood Safety.
Carter said the office will use data and resident feedback to decide how to improve public safety. A 48-member Community-First Public Safety Commission met earlier in the year to discuss emergency response.
“None of that helps at a funeral,” Carter said. The Oct. 10 shooting that killed 27-year-old Marquisha Wiley and injured more than a dozen others “tells us we are still not good enough. We’ll never be good enough.”
Before the shooting, dozens of people danced, as a DJ played music at the popular bar across the street from the Xcel Energy Center.
On a recent weekday morning, a single uniformed St. Paul police officer walked up and down a quiet West Seventh Street.
Any increased officer presence helps restaurant owner Brian Ingram feel safer.
“I lived in this building right here where Truck Park is for five years,” Ingram said. “When the world was some sort of normal and even when we had all these events going on, concerts going on, we didn’t have the gunshots we hear every single day, the racing, cars up and down the hill we are on right now.”
Ingram owns several restaurants in St. Paul. He also helped start Seventh Street Truck Park. After the shooting, Ingram said his nearby restaurant saw a 50 percent drop in earnings. While he says business is coming back with the start of Wild hockey games at the X, Ingram is worried about staying open and keeping his 200 employees safe.
“Everybody keeps asking me, ‘When are you going to move to the suburbs?’ ” Ingram said. “And that’s a super scary thought if everyone pulls out of here.”
Ingram is not interested in leaving.
“St. Paul is our community, and for me, the only reason we were able to give away 250,000 free meals is because this community supported us.”
Patterson said he hopes the spirit of community and support doesn’t dwindle through the coming winter months. New Hope Baptist Church is looking for more volunteers to work on community outreach.
“These volunteers in St. Paul said to me, ‘Pastor P., as long as you are willing to be out here we are going to be out here with you.’”
