21 January 2024
As we celebrate the inauguration of St. Paul’s new, historic City Council and welcome these new leaders to the helm of city government, I thought it was important to share what the St. Paul Area Chamber has learned about public safety perceptions in our city through our annual survey. There are both opportunities to celebrate and challenges for us to tackle together in the new year.
It is notable to mention that this survey measures people’s perceptions, which includes their subjective personal feelings, experiences, and observations about safety regardless of whether they had knowledge of officially reported statistics. Understanding perceptions about public safety gives us insight into whether the public’s expectations about safety are being met and helps illuminate the factors that influence their fear of crime.
First, the good news: we have seen a 35-percentage-point drop — from 65% in 2022 to 30% in 2023 — in the number of St. Paul residents who reported that they feel crime in St. Paul is an increasing problem. While only 7% said they felt crime was decreasing, most residents responding said they felt that crime has “stayed the same” in the city. Also, while crime was chosen as the “most important issue facing St. Paul” in 2022, in 2023 “maintenance of public infrastructure” rose to the top, with “protecting residents and visitors from crime” ranking third behind “managing the needs of the homeless.”
These positive trends are good news. The challenge ahead for us to address together relates to the data that suggests many people have changed their behavior in response to their belief that elevated risk of crime is becoming normalized.
Among St. Paul respondents who believe that crime continues to be an important issue, the majority reported that fear of crime impacts their use of the skyways, going out after work or events, choosing restaurants and bars, and where to shop. Respondents most frequently cited the following causes that make them feel unsafe: lack of police officers, panhandling and harassment, homeless encampments, trash and graffiti, and news about crime.
So we have an opportunity. We have the power to improve our experience of and confidence in the safety of St. Paul. We start by paying attention to this data about the impact our surroundings have on perception. We can’t accept circumstances or an environment that drive people away from using the skyways, frequenting St. Paul restaurants and shops, or working for St. Paul businesses.
In my experience, St. Paul’s residents, employers and employees are caring and attentive. I also know that City leadership puts public safety as a top priority. We need our city’s environment to reflect that. We want the skyways, streetscapes, and neighborhoods to be clean, safe, and welcoming for everyone because they are an expression of the pride and love we feel for our city. We want to know that our unsheltered are being cared for. We want residents and visitors alike to feel confident that a vibrant future lies ahead for St. Paul.
I have seen firsthand the commitment being demonstrated by the City and St. Paul Police Department to tackle the issues that impact both our experience and perception of public safety. Our survey results amplify the sense of urgency, particularly around three impactful key items:
Safe, clean skyways
A greater sense of urgency for improving the safety and cleanliness of the skyway system.
Outcomes from the collaboration between the Met Council and City of St. Paul to provide visible safety improvements and patrols to the problem areas of the skyway are long overdue and urgently needed. I’m pleased by the passage of Councilmember Noecker’s ordinance to allow the City to use the abatement process to address some of the physical maintenance issues in the skyway. A pilot project to add security cameras and intercoms to a portion of the skyway is also underway. The Chamber strongly supports these steps and hopes the City will next focus on a plan to address behavioral concerns in the skyway.
Assisting people in crisis
Intensify efforts to assist people in crisis, remove homeless encampments and curb threatening behavior.
Anyone familiar with the St. Paul Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) knows they do incredible and personalized work to connect the city’s unsheltered residents with needed social services and shelter. With the continued support from the St. Paul business community and philanthropic partners, I hope our non-profit, city and county programs will be better equipped to care for and house our unsheltered. With expanded supports for people in crisis, our city also needs better solutions to curb threatening, aggressive panhandling, harassment, and assaults on our streets and in skyways.
Recruitment, retention of police officers
The challenges in recruitment and retention of police officers are not unique to St. Paul.
Our survey shows that support for law enforcement and the desire for increased visibility is trending even stronger than in 2022. Maintaining high professional standards for St. Paul officers continues to be critical to sustaining the public’s support. We also are strongly supportive of the Mayor’s continued commitment for two police academies annually and Chief Henry’s thinking around new and creative recruitment practices to manage staffing levels.
We can organize around the good things we all want – to live and work in a beautiful capital city that also is the best place for opportunity. And that starts with a foundation of public safety. We have made progress, and there is more work to be done to ensure the positive trendlines continue. The St. Paul Area Chamber and the employer community stand ready to help amplify the message that St. Paul is a wonderful place to live, work and play. We are all in this together, and we all succeed when the city is thriving.
About the survey process: We use professional firms to develop questions and conduct scientific residential telephone surveys of the metro area (800 respondents) with a heavy sampling of St. Paul residents (400 respondents).
B Kyle is the president and CEO of the St. Paul Area Chamber.
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