Falcon Heights officials are considering whether to rekindle a public safety contract with St. Anthony police, whose officer in 2016 shot and killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the neighboring suburb.

St. Anthony provided policing for Falcon Heights for 22 years, but cut ties after St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez fatally shot 32-year-old St. Paulite Castile on July 6, 2016. Nearly a year later, Yanez was acquitted of all charges, and he soon left the police department.

After its breakup with St. Anthony police, Falcon Heights turned to the Ramsey County sheriff’s office for its law enforcement services. However, last March both sides agreed a change was needed, with the city administrator citing contract language and price and the sheriff mentioning location.

On Monday, both cities issued separate news releases announcing their city councils will hold a joint workshop Thursday to explore a renewed partnership.

“Understandably, the thought of a partnership will raise concerns and painful memories of the killing of Philando Castile in our city,” Falcon Heights City Administrator Jack Linehan said in the city’s release. “As we discuss a potential relationship, it’s imperative that we recognize Philando and the impact his killing had on all of us — including his loved ones, the communities of Falcon Heights and St. Anthony Village, our leaders and our staff, along with the members of the St. Anthony Police Department and their families.”

The cities severed their contract on July 15, 2017, and St. Anthony police patrolled Falcon Heights until the end of that year. The separation followed a vote by the St. Anthony City Council to renegotiate the terms of the contract and shift financial responsibility onto Falcon Heights for “events that occur within its city limits.”

No formal action will be taken at Thursday’s meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at St. Anthony City Hall and will be streamed online. During the workshop, staff from both cities will seek direction from the city councils on next steps for exploring a potential relationship, as well as gather resident feedback.

“Our officers were proud to previously serve the Falcon Heights community for more than 20 years,” St. Anthony City Manager Charlie Yunker said in the city’s news release. “(And) given the size and location of our two communities, it makes sense to explore a renewed partnership with Falcon Heights.”

A call to Falcon Heights Mayor Randy Gustafson on Monday seeking comment was not immediately returned. Gustafson has been employed by the sheriff’s office since 2011, and has been its coordinator of crime prevention programs since 2015.

County not a ‘perfect fit’

Last March, Linehan notified Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher in a letter that the city council intended to allow the contract to expire at the end of 2023, noting that the sheriff himself had suggested in September 2020 that the council “find alternative long-term law enforcement partners.” The two parties are finalizing a one-year contract that would run through the end of this year, the city said Monday.

Linehan said in March the city’s decision to end its arrangement with Ramsey County was not a commentary on the work done by its deputies in Falcon Heights in the five years since the St. Paul suburb began paying the sheriff’s office to provide patrol, enforcement and investigative services for its roughly 5,000 residents.

“The language in our contract didn’t really allow the flexibility we were looking for — like being able to interview the officers or deputies who patrol our city, or other oversight we really wanted,” he said in March.

The $1.3 million annual price tag was also an issue, he said. That’s roughly double what the city was paying when it contracted with nearby St. Anthony for the same services before engaging the sheriff’s office in late 2017.

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A news release issued in March by the sheriff’s office said Fletcher, who was elected after the contract was already in place, “never felt the arrangement was a perfect fit.”

Fletcher’s concerns centered on the distances his deputies traveled — often at high speeds — to respond to calls in Falcon Heights, which does not share any borders with the other Ramsey County cities where his agency provides law enforcement services.

“We concur that ending this contract and exploring other law enforcement partners to serve the City of Falcon Heights is in everyone’s best interest,” Fletcher wrote in a letter to Linehan.

It wasn’t the first time the city and the sheriff’s office agreed to part ways. Each party notified the other in 2022 that they intended to allow the contract to expire, but Falcon Heights officials were unable to find an alternative law enforcement solution in time, and the contract was renewed.

St. Anthony policing evolved

Falcon Heights recently completed a two-year study through the Center for Values-Based Initiatives, looking at the city’s law enforcement services contract and needs. The city said the study included focus groups and a randomized resident survey, which followed community feedback gathered for the city’s Inclusion and Policing Task Force recommendations in 2017.

Linehan said Monday a potential renewed relationship with St. Anthony “is a good fit for several reasons: level of service, physical proximity, logistics, financial considerations and – most importantly – the clear commitment (the department) has to practices that align with the values of Falcon Heights residents.”

St. Anthony’s police department “has evolved” since the termination of the previous agreement, the city of Falcon Heights said Monday in its news release.

The city cited the police department’s nearly three years of work with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Collaborative Reform for Technical Assistance team. That process led to several changes within the department, including an overall strategic plan that led to “significant policy changes,” including body-worn cameras for officers and an internal auditing process to “ensure officer compliance and accountability.”

The police department completed more than 1,600 training hours in 2023, and also now conducts an annual use of force analysis and shares the reports on the city’s website.

In 2020, St. Anthony, along with Roseville, St. Paul and Maplewood, said they would move away from traffic stops for vehicle equipment violations, allowing officers to focus on criminal activity and moving violations that endanger public safety.

New police chief named

Jon Mangseth’s run as St. Anthony’s police chief ended quietly last week, in stark contrast to its beginning. Mangseth was a mere month into his new job with the police department when Yanez shot and killed Castile.

The shooting, the immediate aftermath of which Castile’s girlfriend streamed live on Facebook, put the small first-ring Minneapolis suburb and its 23-member police department in the spotlight and later under a federal microscope that focused on policies and practices.

The jury’s acquittal of Yanez gave rise to days of protests, including one in St. Paul that shut down Interstate 94 for hours and ended with 18 arrests. Anger spilled over to St. Anthony City Hall, where demonstrators called on Mangseth, then-Mayor Jerry Faust and several council members to step down.

Mangseth went out on his terms, however. In October, he notified the city manager it was time for him to step aside and retire; his last day with the city was Wednesday. Mangseth recently declined a request by the Pioneer Press to discuss his career.

“I wish to quietly separate from the police department after 29+ years of service,” he said in a two-sentence email.

That’s not surprising to Jeff Spiess, who worked with Mangseth his entire career and was named as his successor last week.

“(Mangseth) never has been a guy who wanted the spotlight,” Spiess, 48, recently told the Pioneer Press. “He’d be happy behind the scenes directing folks, never wanting recognition of any type. But he was thrust into that position, and he knew that was his job. And he didn’t shy away from it.”

Spiess was a newly named captain of the department when Castile was killed, and tasked to work alongside Mangseth on the collaborative reform initiative in the months and years that followed.

Losing the Falcon Heights contract dropped the department force from 23 to 20, a number that was reached through retirements and not layoffs. This past July, the department found funding to hire two more officers. Its 2024 budget is just over $4.5 million.

Spiess joined the department in January 1995 as a volunteer reserve officer and was hired as a full-time officer in September 1998. He’ll be sworn in as chief Feb. 13.

“I’m excited about it,” Spiess said last month. “It’s going to be a little bit of change, obviously, but it’s something I’m looking forward to.”

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