St. Cloud’s Community Policing Agreement:  Is It Working?

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, when most people were out enjoying the April sunshine, 100 People of Color and ISAIAH leaders gathered to work on a common issue – ongoing policing issues between the St. Cloud Police Department and Communities of Color. 

African Americans, Latinos, Somalis and members of the St. Cloud Police Department were focused on finding solutions to making the Community Policing Agreement (CPA) work.  The CPA, signed in 2005, focuses on ending racial profiling and biased policing in traffic stops and searches and in strengthening relationships between police and Communities of Color.

GRIP’s work in bringing People of Color together, facilitating the conversations, and translating the discussion into a workable agreement was led by Tom Jovanovich, Rev. Willie McAfee, and Brianda Cediel.  It began in early 2004 following a state-wide racial profiling study commissioned by the legislature.  The study found that the St. Cloud Police Department conducted discretionary stops and searches of People of Color at significantly higher rates than for whites, even though discovery of contraband was more common among whites.  

Since the signing, Chief Ballantine has publicly stated that his work with Communities of Color in developing the Agreement has prevented three potentially serious clashes between police and Communities of Color.  He has urged other area police chiefs and county sheriffs to develop similar agreements.  The process helped build a network of relationships between the police and community leaders. 

But is the Agreement working for everyone? 

A series of conversations within Communities of Color during March revealed that, although the Agreement has led to improvements on some issues, there are still ongoing problems that need work. 

The gathering, organized by the GRIP Caucus, included both large group conversations during which consecutive translation was provided in Spanish and Somali, as well as, break out sessions in which participants could work on solutions in their native language.

Solutions included a range of ideas from a focused effort to recruit additional officers of color to a straight forward invitation to Chief Ballantine to an evening “ride along” with a group of African American men. 

This conversation, where whites were in the minority, was both light-hearted and serious.  It provided an opportunity for People of Color to have a voice in how they are treated and to hold the Police Department accountable for its actions.  Ongoing meetings have been scheduled to refine and implement solutions – to strengthen the commitment to build a community that is respectful and welcoming to all its residents.  The next review will be held in 2008.

Communication Between the Police Department and Communities of Color:  Both Chief Ballantine and the Signers of the Agreement for the Communities of Color agree that there needs to be more on-going communication between the Police Depart­ment and Communities of Color when there are questions or concerns about police procedures and practices.

Equal Enforcement of Traffic Laws:  Communities of Color continue to report a high frequency of being followed, being stopped, and receiving fix-it tickets.  

Recruitment / Hiring Officers of Color:  Both the Police Department and Communities of Color agree that more Officers of Color need to be recruited and hired.

Equal Treatment in Traffic Accidents:  Communities of Color report that police officers give prefer­ence to Caucasians in traffic accidents; for example, collecting information from only the Caucasian, issuing tickets to both parties when it is clearly the fault of the Caucasian driver, and issuing the ticket to the Person of Color when it is not his/her fault. 

Translators:  Chief Ballantine reports that more translators are needed to carry out the work of the Police Department.