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I was interested in reading the story about the St. Paul police's Internal Integrity Assurance Unit (Internal Affairs). http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4636835.html The story discusses Chief Finney's steps to reorganize the city's Internal Affairs department and how he has them investigate even minor complaints of the St. Paul officers. I know we have heard some complaints on this list about inappropriate police conduct and the article says that Hamline law Prof. Robin Magee doesn't believe St. Paul police "behave better than Minneapolis cops." However, it does seem like St. Paul doesn't have the same problems with outlaw cops as Minneapolis. It could be because we have less cops and less people, but I think this practice of enforcing even minor violations probably establishes a culture where police are expected to remain professional at all times. Unlike Minneapolis where many complaints are left to the commanders, complaints against St. Paul cops are handled formally by the IIAU. It appears even complaints of disrespectful actions by cops are handled in this formal atmosphere, setting up the department wide expectation that police are expected to be professional and thereby preventing the gradual deterioration of their standards of conduct. I don't think that St. Paul police are like children on the playground who need to be monitored at all times, but I like Finney's comment in the article that people should remain accountable and that the police department does a lot of "introspection." It is this type of preventative thinking that likely results in less serious complaints of St. Paul police than other large cities. Jim Mogen LexHam St. Paul _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
