As we have fun the inauguration of St. Paul’s latest, historic City Council and welcome these latest leaders to the helm of city government, I assumed it was essential to share what the St. Paul Area Chamber has learned about public safety perceptions in our city through our annual survey. There are each opportunities to have fun and challenges for us to tackle together in the brand new 12 months.

It’s notable to say that this survey measures people’s perceptions, which incorporates their subjective personal feelings, experiences, and observations about safety no matter whether or not they had knowledge of officially reported statistics. Understanding perceptions about public safety gives us insight into whether the general public’s expectations about safety are being met and helps illuminate the aspects that influence their fear of crime.

First, the excellent news: now we have seen a 35-percentage-point drop — from 65% in 2022 to 30% in 2023 — within the variety 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 identical” in the town. Also, while crime was chosen because the “most vital issue facing St. Paul” in 2022, in 2023 “maintenance of public infrastructure” rose to the highest, with “protecting residents and visitors from crime” rating third behind “managing the needs of the homeless.”

These positive trends are excellent news. The challenge ahead for us to handle together pertains to the info that means many individuals have modified their behavior in response to their belief that elevated risk of crime is becoming normalized.

Amongst St. Paul respondents who consider that crime continues to be a very important issue, the bulk reported that fear of crime impacts their use of the skyways, going out after work or events, selecting restaurants and bars, and where to buy. Respondents most regularly cited the next causes that make them feel unsafe: lack of cops, panhandling and harassment, homeless encampments, trash and graffiti, and news about crime.

So now we have a possibility. We’ve the facility to enhance our experience of and confidence in the protection of St. Paul. We start by listening to this data concerning the impact our surroundings have on perception. We are able to’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’d like our city’s environment to reflect that. We wish the skyways, streetscapes, and neighborhoods to be clean, protected, and welcoming for everybody because they’re an expression of the pride and love we feel for our city. We wish to know that our unsheltered are being cared for. We wish residents and visitors alike to feel confident that a vibrant future lies ahead for St. Paul.

I actually have seen firsthand the commitment being demonstrated by the City and St. Paul Police Department to tackle the problems that impact each our experience and perception of public safety. Our survey results amplify the sense of urgency, particularly around three impactful key items:

Secure, clean skyways

A greater sense of urgency for improving the protection and cleanliness of the skyway system.

Outcomes from the collaboration between the Met Council and City of St. Paul to offer visible safety improvements and patrols to the issue areas of the skyway are long overdue and urgently needed. I’m pleased by the passage of Councilmember Noecker’s ordinance to permit the City to make use of the abatement process to handle a few of the physical maintenance issues within the skyway. A pilot project so as to add security cameras and intercoms to a portion of the skyway can also be underway. The Chamber strongly supports these steps and hopes the City will next give attention to a plan to handle behavioral concerns within the skyway.

Assisting people in crisis

Intensify efforts to help people in crisis, remove homeless encampments and curb threatening behavior.

Anyone aware of the St. Paul Homeless Assistance Resource Team (HART) knows they do incredible and personalized work to attach the town’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 likely be higher equipped to look after and house our unsheltered. With expanded supports for people in crisis, our city also needs higher solutions to curb threatening, aggressive panhandling, harassment, and assaults on our streets and in skyways.

Recruitment, retention of cops

The challenges in recruitment and retention of cops will not be unique to St. Paul.

Our survey shows that support for law enforcement and the need for increased visibility is trending even stronger than in 2022. Maintaining high skilled standards for St. Paul officers continues to be critical to sustaining the general public’s support. We are also strongly supportive of the Mayor’s continued commitment for 2 police academies annually and Chief Henry’s considering around latest and artistic recruitment practices to administer staffing levels.

We are able to organize around the nice things all of us want – to live and work in a wonderful capital city that is also the most effective place for opportunity. And that starts with a foundation of public safety. We’ve made progress, and there’s more work to be done to make sure the positive trendlines proceed. The St. Paul Area Chamber and the employer community stand able to help amplify the message that St. Paul is an excellent place to live, work and play. We’re all on this together, and all of us succeed when the town is prospering.

In regards to the survey process: We use skilled 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.