The St. Paul City Council is holding a budget committee meeting this morning with presentations from Police Chief Todd Axtell and Interim Fire Chief Butch Inks. Agenda here, including links to their prepared presentations: stpaul.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.…
City Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who is leading the meeting, gives the overview. Mayor Melvin Carter presented the proposed budget in August. The Council hears from departments to "establish the best budget possible" when they vote in December. They're not voting today.
There are community members here, but Noecker says this isn't a public meeting. She said she encourages people to listen and provide feedback to their Council members or Council as a whole.
Axtell was last before the Council on Sept. 4 to talk about the department's budget. Past article: twincities.com/2019/09/04/st-…
Axtell says the last two weeks have been filled with challenges, tragedies and grief. There were three homicides in an 8-hour span last Monday and an officer fatally shot a man this past Sunday.
Axtell says he's heard the calls to release the body camera footage and he will, as soon as he's confident the release won't interfere with the investigation.
Homicide investigations and shootings have taxed the department, Axtell said. Working with Mayor Carter, they've put in place a five-step plan, which includes adding five officers to every shift in each of the three patrol districts.
Arrests have been made in the three of the five recent homicides. Axtell says recent events have put a spotlight on the issue of resources, investments and staffing.
You can see the meeting live here: stpaul.granicus.com/mediaplayer.ph…
Axtell says officers are busier than they've ever been. Calls for service and 911 calls are up.
Authorized strength is 635 officers. 608 officers currently on payroll, of which 570 are available to work on the streets.
People holding signs that say “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” - James Baldwin. Another says, “We want healing + prevention. NOT more police.” 
Axtell just provided stats on 911 response times. He says from July 2018 through August 2019, there were more than 7,000 times when there wasn't an officer to dispatch. People had to wait longer for help because officers were busy helping other people, Axtell says.
There have been 116 people shot in St. Paul this year and 17 of them died.
Axtell says they've been working to slow things down and de-escalate. Officers used force 454 times in 2016, 423 times in 2017 and 382 times in 2018.
Investigators are swamped, Axtell says. Investigators have many new sources of evidence including cameras and cell phone data. Cases that would have taken a week a decade ago can now take weeks or months.
Axtell tells the Council he understands they have difficult decisions to make for the 2020 budget. But he says he knows that cutting police officers in the city's best interest.
Carter's proposed budget would take authorized strength from 635 to 630 officers.
City Council President Amy Brendmoen says focus should be on adequate staffing and getting the number of officers up to authorized strength since they're at 608 now.
Brendmoen says things we can plan for, like military leave, should be prepared for by management and HR to fill those positions.
"This number we talk about is sort of arbitrary," Brendmoen says of authorized strength number.
A sign of support for Axtell among a number of signs on this side of the Council chambers that are critical of the police department.
Council Member Noecker: Citywide, officers are getting to calls this year faster than they were last year? Axtell: That is correct.
City Council Member Chris Tolbert asks how many people will be in the next police academy. Axtell says about 35.
City Council Member Mitra Jalai Nelson asks if they'll have full staffing when next police academy is done. Axtell says they will.
Council Member Jane Prince says she thinks the ball was dropped last year in forming a cabinet on public safety. It's going to take everyone working together to keep the community safe, Prince says.
Council Member Nelson says there is work underway, but those things take time and partnership.
Council Member Dai Thao says he sits on police working-group committee and he doesn't think it's "either/or." Can have public safety by investing in youth, identify the young people who need support. Still need to have investigators able to investigate crimes.
Council Member Nelson says she's dug into data from the police department and has been out in the neighborhood where Ronald Davis was shot by the officer.
Nelson says "what is really sitting with me" is we're looking at our police staffing assuming that crime will continue at current rate.
Nelson says she wants interventions that prevent calls to police in the first place. She's worried about trauma to the community and other gaps in supporting youth, having stable housing.
Nelson says we don't need just reactive response, but ways to heal the root causes of violence. She points to this recent op-ed written by community members: twincities.com/2019/09/17/bra…
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