A mere 34 before the opening of the 2008 Republican convention, the St. Paul Police Department still has not finalized arrangements for RNC security, and is continuing to solicit cops from across the state. An email sent last Friday by SPPD Chief John Harrington and Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion also mentions the possibility that St. Paul police will ultimately have to reach outside Minnesota to adequately staff the convention.

According to that email, a copy of which was obtained by MnIndy, if all departments make good on current commitments there are roughly 3,000 cops currently available for the effort. Even under this best-case scenario, however, SPPD would remain 500 officers shorts of its goal. "This means that if we cannot reach our objective within the State of Minnesota, we will seek assistance from agencies outside of Minnesota," the email goes on to say. (Back in early July, Tom Lyden of Fox9 reported that Tampa, Florida had offered to send officers to St. Paul, but there’s been no public discussion of bringing police from out of state since that time.)

The communique was sent to the heads of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association and forwarded to law enforcement agencies across the state. In it, Harrington and Campion ask the police agencies for a current tally of how many officers will be available through joint-powers agreements worked out between the SPPD and various cities, counties and state agencies. They’re also seeking a breakdown of how many cops could be summoned through what’s known as "mutual aid," which is typically invoked during emergency situations.

In addition, Harrington and Campion are looking for a rundown of how many recently retired officers, reserve officers and detention staff might be made available. The various law-enforcement agencies are asked to provide this information by July 31 so that St. Paul can be, as the email obliquely notes, "in comformance with Department of Justice guidelines."

As MnIndy has previously reported, the SPPD has been struggling to finalize agreements with police departments across the state. Some law-enforcement agencies are nervous about whether St. Paul has sufficient insurance to cover legal costs stemming from the RNC and worry that they’ll end up footing the bill. Others fear that they will be left with an inadequate number of officers to handle their normal policing duties back home. There are currently 10,300 licensed police officers in Minnesota, meaning it will require more than one third of all the cops in the state to staff the four-day gathering.

The text of the email follows:

The 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC) is fast approaching and we need to firm up our staffing resources under the current Joint Powers Agreements (JPA) and/or if mutual aid requests are made under MN Statue (sic) Chapter 12. Many of you have submitted JPAs and several others have them moving through the local approval process.

If all of the current agencies meet the staffing projections associated with their JPAs, we have approximately 3000 personnel available. We will continue to recruit until we have reached a staff of 3500 and then determine if we need additional officers. This means that if we cannot reach our objective within the State of Minnesota, we will seek assistance from agencies outside of Minnesota.

The St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) is asking for your assistance in the following way:

-Consider sending sworn officers, recently retired yet still eligible to be licensed officers, reserve officers, and/or detention staff members

-Your personnel could be sent under either the JPA or MN mutual aid statue (sic), Chapter 12

 

For planning purposes, assume that the responding personnel would be working 12 hours shifts for any of the RNC dates of Sept 1st through Sept 4th. In reference to "reserve officers" listed above; it is assumed these officers would be assigned to "transportation related details

By July 31st we need to be certain of your level of commitment; so even if your JPA is not fully approved, knowing when it will be is necessary so that we are in conformance with the Department of Justice guidelines.

Please reply to the questions below before July 31st to help facilitate our planning efforts.

Send your replies to SPPD - Tom Walsh (tom.walsh@ci.stpaul.mn.us)

Thank you again for your assistance and support!

Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington

Questions:

1) Is your agency interested in sending personnel under the current JPA?

If yes:

a. How many sworn officers could you send? For how many days?

b. How many reserve officers could you send? For how many days

c. How many detention staff officers could you send? For how many days?

d. How many recently retired yet still eligible to be licensed officers could you send? For how many days?

e. Do you have additional resources that you could send?

2. For those agencies that have JPAs in process, when do you believe the JPA will be approved?

3. Is your agency willing to send personnel under MN Mutual Aid — Chapter 12?

If yes:

a. Could your personnel be deployed with a one-day notice?

b. Could your personnel work two consecutive days if food and lodging were provided?

c. How many sworn officers could you send? For how many days?

d. How many reserve officers could you send? For how many days?

e. How many detention staff officers could you send? For how many days?

g. Do you have additional resources that you could send?