“I understand the great potential that we have and how well we can establish the best possible responses working as a community together,” Henry, who thanked the mayor and other city officials, during a Tuesday press conference. “My 24 years in the St. Paul Police Department have offered me great opportunities but obviously all of those opportunities are really truly responsibilities and none is greater than the current one before me.”
The announcement by Carter comes shortly after Henry had warned about growing gun violence in the city.
During a public meeting last month, he spoke about it as a top issue for St. Paul.
“Clearly, gun violence is a huge part of that. But violence in general has to be addressed.”
“And the community are the police and the police are the community. And that is going to be the new style,” Henry added.
Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 that led to the conviction and sentencing of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, St. Paul’s neighboring city became a spotlight for police reform and negative attitudes toward policing, prompting an exodus of numerous officers across Minnesota.
While speaking to the St. Paul City Council last month, interim Police Chief Jeremy Ellison proposed a budget worth $130 million for 2023. According to the Star Tribune, it was $2 million more than what was allocated for the department in 2022.
Following the budget proposal, Ellison said that staffing shortages have caused a problem for the department noting that they were short over 50 officers.
“This is just unprecedented times…There are things that we’re not doing today that we would have been doing if we were at full staff,” Ellison said, per the Star Tribune.
In the wake of Floyd’s death, many called on Minneapolis to address police reform, which eventually prompted the city to propose legislation that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a department of public safety. The legislation, which was widely seen as part of the “defund the police” movement, was eventually rejected by voters.
During the press conference on Tuesday, Henry further spoke about some of his plans as he takes on the new role within the department.
“We’ve experienced a lot of challenges over the years and nothing more challenging than the last few years, for certain. But this has now created an opportunity for us to all come together as a community…we can co-produce a public safety strategy for this city that can be a role model for the entire country. Now is the time for all of us to come together.”
Newsweek reached out to the St. Paul Police Department for additional comment.
Update 11/1/22, 1:01 PM ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
