St. Paul Police Program Brings In Recruits From Underrepresented Communities
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) - The St. Paul Police Department's efforts to diversify its ranks is working - some of its newest officers come from communities typically underrepresented in law enforcement.
On Thursday night, 55 new police officers were sworn in and are now official members of the SPPD.
Among those new officers are 13 people who entered the academy after taking part in a program designed to help diversify the ranks of SPPD.
Commander Jon Loretz says the Law Enforcement Career Path Academy is SPPD's way of intentionally recruiting people who come from communities traditionally not represented in law enforcement.
Paw Htoo is one of St. Paul's newest police officers. She is one of two female Karen officers on the department, the first in Minnesota. Htoo was born in Burma and spent years in a refugee camp in Thailand before coming to the U.S. at the age of 12.
She brings language and cultural skills that will help connect her community with police. She hopes by wearing this uniform she can build relationships.
"I want to make sure my community knows that the police are here for them and they are here to help them and they are not alone," said Htoo.
Not only is LECPA working to diversify the ranks of St. Paul's police department, it's helping change the face of other department across the state.
"We've had four people that were in LECPA at one time that went to other departments: Minneapolis police, U of M police and Maplewood police. And here's the thing about this program that is great - law enforcement across Minnesota needs diversity and so those individuals bringing those skills to those departments, that is not a loss for us thats a win for the communities," said Loretz.
Now, the Law Enforcement Career Path Academy has 19 students working in the community while earning their college degree to qualify for the police academy.
