Longtime St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell is preparing to retire from the force this June. Mayor Melvin Carter this past Wednesday announced that Deputy Chief Jeremy Ellison will serve as interim police chief of the Saint Paul Police Department.
Axtell, who is leaving after a 33-year career in St. Paul, sat down with WCCO Radio’s Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News to talk about his coming retirement, the state of the city, and the challenges police departments in St. Paul and nationwide are facing.
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Vineeta Sawkar: What are your thoughts on Deputy Chief Ellison and his role now as interim chief? What do you think of his work?
Chief Todd Axtell: Well, Jeremy is really the perfect pick at the perfect time for our city. He just brings such a calm and competent nature to the position. We really need that steady leadership going through into the busy summer months. I couldn't be more happy with the pick from Mayor Carter and Jeremy will do an incredible job and continue to do what we all do. All chiefs who have served in the St. Paul Police Department continue to build on the legacy of the giants that we have followed. The chiefs that I have served in the past, um, starting with Bill McCutchen, Chief Finney, John Harrington and Tom Smith. And so Jeremy will continue to do everything we have done in the past, just to try to make the department better when you leave the position. And I know that Jeremy will do that, he'll make it better than he found it.
Sawkar: A lot of people were very sad when you decided to not seek a second term. You're a pretty popular guy among people in the city of St. Paul. As you reflect on your tenure, what are you most proud of after being chief of St. Paul police?
Axtell: I'm proud of the fact that I had such a great team around me to help succeed. You know, none of us are that smart, and I've always taken the approach that if I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm in the wrong room. And so I'm proud of the fact that we built a great team and we all came together to make sure that we focused on engaging our community at historic levels. Taking a look top to bottom, look at our use of force policies, we have increased the diversity of our department by 33% and that was one of the things that I wanted to accomplish, to be more reflective of and responsive to our community. The fact that we have not only survived, but thrived under very dynamic circumstances, the most difficult policing period in American history, with controversial police use of force incidents throughout the country, and specifically here in Minneapolis back in 2020. And the women and men of the St Paul Police Department stood up and they just excelled in every area during those difficult, tumultuous moments of our city, where we had 36 buildings on fire, 300 businesses looted and our officers kept their composure, and they did things the St Paul way. We maintained the peace and protected public safety through trusted service, with respect, under difficult circumstances. It's just been the honor of my professional honor of my lifetime to serve St Paul for so long.
Sawkar: Is there a case that still haunts you? So many success stories, but there's got to be some that still haunt you as you leave.
Axtell: You know, as I drive around the city from time to time, there are so many occurrences as a police officer who has come up through the ranks. You drive by a home, and you remember a call for service where tragedy happens. Specifically the calls with young people, children who have been victims of crime and how that impacts the family and the officers alike. These are difficult circumstances where anytime a young person is injured, whether it's through violence or a car crash, those are all the cases, put together, that really haunt all of us who've been first responders. There are too many, unfortunately, to single any one specific one out.
Sawkar: How do you respond to the people who still are very concerned about people of color being targeted by police? I know that training is a very high priority for you and what you do for St. Paul Police. You bring in outside people to come in and train and talk about this. Where do you think improvements need to be made and what needs to be done?
Axtell: Yeah, we committed to annual implicit bias training since 2016, when I became chief. Our ongoing training includs moral courage training, ethical policing is courageous training, and the list goes on and on to make sure we all understand our own bias that we all have. Because if you are human, you possess a level of bias. So we have really done a good job. I think of drilling down to acknowledge that.
And then secondly, it's much larger as you look at disproportionate minority contacts in policing. I look at the root causes of some of the statistics that come into play. We ask our officers to be in the most challenged neighborhoods in our cities, which have the most violence, the most shots fired, the most people injured by gunfire, and tragically as I look at the demographics of some of the neighborhoods, they are a high concentration of communities of color. When I look at the things that are leading people to intersect at a higher rate with the criminal justice system, housing education, healthcare, all of the things, the finance, the things that lead people to intersect with criminal justice system, it can't always be just dumped on the shoulders of the women and men of law enforcement who are asked to be in these challenged areas is a society. We all have to do better to make sure people of color are less likely to intersect with that criminal justice system.
Sawkar: I've lived in St. Paul now for 25 years, and this community has changed so much. A lot of cities are experiencing a real increase in crime, carjacking, violent crime. What do you think needs to be done to address it?
Axtell: Yeah, that's a great question. You're right, cities across this country continue to struggle with the rise of violent crime. You know, I put it into the perspective like this. The spokes of the entire criminal justice wheel have to be working in concert from the 911 call all the way through accountability and rehabilitation of the offender all have to work in concert. And each of those folks has a critical role in making sure our community is safe, and they have a sense of safety as they go about their lives. So making sure that we have a zero tolerance approach to violent crime is a good start. We need to make sure that we are victim focused, protecting victims of crime. Has to be the number one priority. The number one goal of the criminal justice system is to protect victims of crime.
Sawkar: U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, you were at his news conference where he said they're going to be a lot tougher and prosecute and put these people in jail. Do you feel like that is what he is suggesting and what he wants to do will help?
Axtell: Without a doubt. Andy is going to bring in a lot of energy around this topic. I know Andy, as well visited one-on-one with victims of carjacking. I mean, these traumatic experiences where you have somebody sticking a gun in your face, taking the vehicle out of your garage with a child in the backseat as you try to rip the child out of the car. Can you imagine? I mean, people listening to this conversation right now, think of what that would do to your family and your sense of safety and security. We need to make sure, as a community, as a criminal justice system, that anybody who thinks about doing that understands clearly, if you're caught there will be significant and severe consequences for those crimes.
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Sawkar: There have been some public disagreements with Mayor Carter. What do you think of his leadership, his relationship with the police department and the way he is addressing crime in the city?
Axtell: Well, you know, I have a relationship that goes back 33 years with the Carter family. I actually worked with his father, Sergeant Carter, on the department. Such a wonderful family. The mayor is an incredible, kind, sincere human being. You know, a lot has been made out of the conflict between the mayor and I on how we view public safety in St. Paul. But if you point to me a police chief who agrees with their mayor on everything, I'll point you to a liar. And I think St. Paul is really well served and making sure that they're a hearing exactly what their mayor thinks and feels. Equally important is what their chief thinks and feels. I think that's how community really understands that they have that transparency and trust that's needed. All the conversations at the table, regardless of what we think has to be heard and felt.
Sawkar: Your retirement day will be June 1st and it's been 30 years with the St Paul Police Department. What are the first things you want to do when you finally say goodbye to this profession that you have devoted your life to?
Axtell: It's been, yeah, 33 years serving the City of St. Paul and six years now as chief. And I really don't have a plan for that first day on June 2nd when I wake up as to a specific set of tasks for that day. I'm going to see how that feels, but I'm really excited about the fact that I'm starting up the Axtell Group.
It's a consulting group to help other public and private organizations navigate crisis, evaluate their operations, making sure that they're prepared for the worst day that inevitably comes to any organization and how to help other organizations build their bank of trust.
Sawkar: When you think about the community of St. Paul, what do you want to tell the citizens of St. Paul about the police department? The misconceptions they may have, the thoughts they may have on police officers? What would you like to address?
Axtell: St. Paul is so fortunate. I believe the reason the St. Paul Police Department has a unique feel as you look across the country to different police departments is because we have this long, strong, proud history and tradition of providing trusted service with respect. It's an expectation as to who we are. It's really in our DNA. And when we have hired internally chiefs throughout the years, we continue to build on that strong tradition. I'm so proud of the women, men of the St. Paul Police Department. I wish our community could join me in some of the conversations in roll call to see the humanity that they bring to the job, their mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles, grandparents, and grandchildren. They put their pants on one leg at a time, there is a human behind the badge and they're wonderful human beings, and I'm really proud of them.
Sawkar: A lot of people are reluctant to enter this profession and now it's tough to recruit. You were telling me about fewer applicants. What do you want to let someone know who may consider this profession for the future?
Axtell: Yeah, it's an incredible job. It's a job unlike others. It's a calling actually, not a job. We are in a hiring crisis right now. This last application process, we had less than a hundred applicants. Normally five, six years ago, we had 700. But there's a lot to offer. Again, it's a calling. We want to hire the heart. The people who have a heart for service, we can train you to stop a car, to be safe, to navigate crisis. But you have to have a heart for public service. And if you are that person, give me a call. I'd love to hire you.