Ann Mongoven knows her Highland Park neighborhood is gaining population at a steady clip. Despite that, she opposes any proposal to add more police officers in St. Paul.

“That doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Mongoven, an active member of the St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis, after a long pause and an incredulous look. “I live in Highland and we are going to be welcoming new people. … We can do that neighbor-to-neighbor. We don’t need the police to get to know our neighbors.”

On Monday, 14 members of the faith-based social justice coalition Isaiah gathered in front of St. Paul City Hall to advocate against potential new police hiring in the city budget that will be unveiled in August.

Instead, they called for additional investments in prisoner re-entry programs, after-school programs, libraries, parks and rec centers — anything that could help prevent crime.

“I think the question is does our bold vision mean adding more police to our force?” said Minister JaNae Bates, a St. Paul resident and spokeswoman for Isaiah, who called the city over-policed at a time when the homicide rate is about half what it was a year ago. “Our budget should include ways to figure out how to have less police, not more.”

If Bates walked through the skyway system toward the downtown LRT station after @mnwild games she would not be so giddy to shed officer count. @SPACC @downtownbeat @mnwildPR https://t.co/ea4lB1cYqY — Christopher Long (@OctaneBoy) July 2, 2018

On social media, the prospect of freezing or even reducing the volume of St. Paul officers drew incredulous response from some residents.

In a recent discussion with the city council, St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell said he’d like to see 50 officers added to the force of 626 officers over the next two years — a request that would cost taxpayers $4.5 million.

MORE 911 CALLS, LONGER RESPONSE TIME

Axtell’s interest in adding more officers comes as the city’s population has grown over the last decade, said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. There have also been more 911 calls and it has been taking officers longer to respond to them.

“This isn’t about putting more people in jail,” Linders said Monday. “It’s about being able to deliver the help people need.”

Bates points out that the city already maintains 20 officers for every 10,000 residents, which is above the national average of 18.6 officers for cities of St. Paul’s size.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter has expressed similar concerns, noting that the city already devotes nearly a fifth of its $563 million budget — or $101 million — to the police department.

Carter has called for a greater emphasis on community-driven approaches toward public safety, such as boosting library or rec center funding. Related Articles Man reports he had to stab his dog after attack in St. Paul; police investigating

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City council members have neither committed to the $4.5 million figure or ruled it out entirely. Several council members have expressed concern that 911 response times are growing. So is the city population, which recently surpassed 300,000 residents for the first time in decades and is poised to grow further with the addition of new residential areas.

The Ford Motor Co.’s former Twin Cities Assemby Plant in Highland Park, the Hillcrest Golf Course on Larpenteur Avenue, the Green Line neighborhood around Raymond and University avenues, and a long stretch of Snelling Avenue south of University Avenue are all expected to house hundreds of new residents in the near future.

Activity centers such as the future Major League Soccer stadium — Allianz Field — in St. Paul’s Midway, the downtown Palace Theatre and CHS Field, the home of the St. Paul Saints ball team, will also bring in new visitors.

SIX MONTHS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Axtell said, if he had enough staff, he would have new officers work for six months in the department’s community engagement unit before hitting the streets on patrol.

That will bring about changes, said Linders, the police spokesman.

“First, when (officers) are responding to calls for service, they know the people they are serving and the community members know them,” he said. “Second, because we would have more officers, they would have more time to spend with people who’ve called for help. And third, it’s a culture change that doesn’t last six months. … It lasts for decades, the decades that these officers will serve the community.”

Nevertheless, critics point out that the police department was about 40 percent smaller, with 368 officers, in 1950 — at a time when the city’s population was roughly the same size as it is now.

Haywood Kemp, who once ran two group homes for men coming out of prison, understands that the city isn’t getting smaller.

But Kemp — who spent seven years in prison on a drug crime from the age of 35 to 43 — said more officers won’t deter more crimes.

“Criminals can learn to work around more officers on the streets,” Kemp said.

Kemp said he reinvented himself with the help of his sisters and his church, Camphor United Methodist on St. Paul’s Dale Street, “but a lot of guys don’t have that. The revolving door system puts people in and out (of prison). … We need programs in prisons, when they’re in, to change guys, and we need programs when they get out. Or it’s a second chance to fail.”