St. Paul police officers used force 881 times in a two-year span, ranging from handcuffing suspects resisting arrest, to striking individuals, to four fatal shootings, according to a report released by the police department Friday.

The force amounted to 0.15 percent of the 570,409 cases police handled in 2016 and 2017.

“We’re entrusted with protecting public safety and enforcing laws, and sometimes that requires the use of reasonable, necessary force,” Police Chief Todd Axtell said in a statement. “It’s important for our community to understand how rare it is for our officers to use force and to know that we’re transparent, accountable and committed to de-escalation whenever possible.”

The police department said it’s the first time they’ve released a comprehensive report about use of force. The report includes:

Demographic information. About half of the people were black. More than one-third of the people who were the subject of force were 20- to 29-years-old.

The type of force used. Most didn’t involve weapons. A body or escort hold, which could involve an officer grabbing someone’s arm and escorting him or her to an ambulance or squad car, was used 393 times out of 1,513 types of force used.

The calls when officers used force. One-quarter were instances of obstructing legal process, which could be resisting arrest, and disturbance crimes, which includes loud parties or people fighting. The next most common instance was non-domestic assaults. The fatal shootings by officers were ruled justified after independent investigations found the subject was pointing a firearm or shooting at officers.

Laura Jones, a member of the Root and Restore St. Paul coalition, which is working to grow community-first safety approaches, said she found “troubling indicators” in her review of the department’s report on Friday and was left with unanswered questions.

Jones noted the police department did not release complete data, but only their selected findings, which she said is “not the same thing as data transparency.” And, she said, “it’s impossible to know from the department’s findings if the force was applied consistent with department policy.”

The report says each incident is reviewed by the police department’s use-of-force committee and by internal affairs.

The police department received seven complaints about use of force in 2016 and none in 2017.

The Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission did not find policy violations in six of the cases. The one that was sustained was against Officer Brett Palkowitch, who kicked Frank Baker when a police dog was biting him. A federal grand jury indicted him last month, accusing him of using excessive force.

The information in the report is from 2016 and 2017, before the department made changes last year to its use-of-force policy. Axtell said the findings did not lead him to consider further modifications to training or policy.

“I am incredibly proud of the women and men of our department who go out every day and deal with dynamic and ever changing situations,” he said in a Friday interview.

FORCE USED DURING MENTAL HEALTH SITUATIONS

More than one-third of the people whom officers used force on were not booked into jail.

“Physical force is often necessary as a control technique for persons in crisis or suffering from other medical conditions,” the report said.

Axtell said officers’ decisions about use of force “come down to the actions of the people that we need to bring into control for public safety purposes and it can often be for their own safety or the safety of others in the area.”

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NTSB releases preliminary report on Cottage Grove plane crash The police department launched a mental health unit last year, which now has two embedded social workers, and they’re working “to make sure those who are in crisis in our community receive the necessary services to keep them out of the criminal justice system,” Axtell said.

Jones said she’s concerned about force being “used against the most vulnerable populations,” including homeless people and youth. Of 954 people whom force was used against, 138 were between the ages of 10 and 17.

The report also found that 10 percent of people who were the subject of force were homeless.

NAACP SAYS STATS ABOUT RACE ARE NO SURPRISE

Dianne Binns, St. Paul NAACP president, said she was not surprised to hear that 49 percent of people whom force was used against in a two-year span were black.

“That is why we have been so vigilant in the last few years about traffic stops and anything else because the more often you come into contact with police, that increases your chances of being abused,” she said.

An estimated 16 percent of St. Paul residents were black in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Axtell said officers “use reasonable and necessary force based on behavior, not race.”

“Until we fix the gaps relating to finance, housing, health care, education and employment, underserved populations will continue to intersect with the criminal justice system at disproportionate rates,” he said.

MAYOR: ‘TRUST REQUIRES TRANSPARENCY’

In 2018, when the police department created the new use-of-force policy, Axtell wrote he heard during community forums that people “wanted to know more about the department use-of-force trends to determine what impact the new policy would make.”

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Frogtown Community Center unveils new artificial turf field, playground and outdoor fun St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter applauded Axtell and the police department for releasing the report and said he looks “forward to the necessary conversations it will undoubtedly generate.”

“Trust requires transparency,” Carter said in a statement. “This full accounting of use of force incidents is consistent with our Community First Public Safety framework and advances our goal of protecting the critical trust that must flow between police officers and the residents they serve.”

The full report is available on the police department’s website.