Minneapolis Police Department, which is had more than its share of bad publicity in recent years now has a new Chief Robert Olson was sworn in as the city's new police chief yesterday becoming the 55th person to hold that position. I will send six Siege John Locke's who resigned last winter and then some charges that he failed to instill enough discipline in the department locks, you might recall charged and turn the real problem. He faced was a lack of support from the cities political leaders. Olson clearly has some major challenges to deal with so today. We thought we would spend the hour learning more about who Robert Olson is and how he plans to deal with all these challenges. She bolted is but good enough to join us from Minneapolis City Hall Chief Olson. Welcome back to Minnesota. Thank you so much. Glad to talk with you. Are you originally from st. Paul? Right? I was born and raised there. My dad's grandparents. In fact immigrated from Sweden came down from Canada and settle there in St. Paul. And you lived here in St. Paul. How long not very long at all. Dad was you work for the phone company andGot transferred to Fargo. So soon after I was born we moved to Fargo and then Omaha, so I didn't spend a lot of time living here, but I got lots of vacations and Summers with grandparents and cousins and all of that basically grew up in Omaha as a real. Yeah. We left Fargo when I was about second grade and then Omaha was really the home base. Is that where you became a police officer? Oh, yes. I was a police cadet 2 stage 21 doing police work all my life 20 years in Omaha and thenI became chief of police in Corpus Christi, Texas. And in the last 5 years. I've been Commissioner of police in Yonkers New York, and I am now a resident of and chief of the Minneapolis Police Department What attracted you to police work in the first place? I don't know. It's going to be an accountant like my Dad decided as a senior. That wasn't right and I'm going to college and they said well you were good in physics. So I took a intro to Physics course and they were doing three chapters while I was doing one. I got a counselor that they had a new program called law enforcement and Corrections and the game on the couch all down there who started the school. So I take my intro to criminology class and then I want to tell you I took it that semester.And the hook was set. So what did you find? So attractive about it? I really don't know. It was interesting. It was not to office work per say it was out than in in this feeling. Yeah, you know, you can be one of the good guys and doing something really worthwhile and an exciting and I guess all the reasons a young person goes into pleasing. No, I understand that while you were in Yonkers is the head of the Yonkers department. Somebody tried to kill you. What was that all about? I wish we knew for sure. We were doing a lot of tough things a lot of corruption in City Hall. We were inviting a Commissioners and investigating and we had some tough internal issues some real serious discipline problems and we were doing some stuff for the mob. They were doing a lot of illegal dumping in Yonkers with so, you know the pcbs and all that type of stuff. So we had a whole array of suspects and they Franklin ever resolve the case. It's still an open case for the FBI and ATF so far the reception here has been a little warmer. Yes a lot more more time. I'm really enjoying that this is a great City and I'm proud to call it my home. Now you live in Minneapolis, right? You're going to be living in the city itself. Well, of course now is that because of the residency requirement by Joey had one it would not even be it would not be ethical for a police. Decorative not to live in the city that he was responsible for his that apply to officers too. Well, I think that that officers as we recruit. I understand they change the residency requirement and I'm glad to see that that doesn't mean I think all the guys are out in the suburbs out of move back in that's not the case at all. But I think that that residency is a very important issue when we talked about community policing in belonging to the community. So I was glad to see that the the change has been taking place in the course overtime will have all residents. What did you think about the process that that was used tire? Use I'm thinking specifically of the the opportunity for citizens to directly question you in the like is that unusual in the police field used to be several years ago. But today it's becoming more and more common than we talked about the whole concept of community policing why shouldn't they be involved in the selection of what some people regard as when the most important posts in city government? I guess today is Robert Olson the new Minneapolis Police Chief first callers on the line from Plymouth bill. Go ahead terms of proactive plans to address crime problems. Specifically, I'm thinking violent crime homicide assault rates that so for that seems like a lot of time departments react to those but what can we go look in communities and what can the police do that would be more proactive? Well, I think you know and then you hit a nerve there with homicide. We just had number 21 last night and it was one of those shootings in a parking lot and in the traditional wisdom is the police really can't do a lot about that. It's kind of he reads the book's it says that the end is very unpredictable, but I don't necessarily buy that we've been putting information together already to see if there's some time frames and no patience and what not to wear to do something to try and slow that down. I think when you look at other violent crimes assault sexual assault those kinds of things you can be proactive about him, but that's where you need the citizen involvement. I think that the education programs about crime awareness making yourself less likely to become a victim if you look at the studies that have come out 60% of all crimes are crimes of opportunity and I think that is the area where the citizens and the police working together. Can make a difference to chip away at those 60% so that these Crooks that are running around out there have less opportunities to ply their trade. I notice says study by the Department of Public Safety State study indicating a fairly significant increase in violent crimes being committed by juveniles. What can be done about that. But I know the one one of the answers that it isn't and that's just doing nothing. I really think that in your right it was going to 217% in the increase of 15 year olds, for example over the last 10 years committing violent crimes. This is where the Partnerships between Community Family City Schools. We've got to get ahold of this generation that's coming up and work out some ways to make their lives and less dysfunctional than they are now, we talked about prevention programs and stuff and they say, There fluff but I'd rather spend $20,000 on the front end to try and turn one of these kids out of a path that's going to lead them to Crime rather than wait till after we have to arrest them and incarcerate them a 20030 thousand a year. Do we know that those so-called fluff programs work do most of them actually do good with some of them do and in some of them are our little more nebulous. But you know, I look at it that say we started dare program. For example, which I know we have in Minneapolis and I'm a great supporter of dere what we really get down to those younger ages. And and if out of that class at 25 kids if two of them didn't take up drugs that's a winner and I like to look at it in that context. Not that we're solving the problem, but for every person we can divert out of a path is going to lead them to Crime. We as a community need to do it next callers on the line from Edina Pat. Go ahead. The Minneapolis affects all of us and I agree with your just your last comment very much. So on that prevention is the answer to put him in jail. We have proven doesn't work, but I really called about it and I just when I turned your program on you said the statement that on the eligibility and residency, you said well, I wouldn't want all the guys you caught me good. I need to be reminded. I think that women probably well you tell me do they have a role in in in law enforcement. Do they have a role? Let me tell you they are the fastest growing role in policing and I would be remiss if I didn't say when we talked about and maybe I'm being sexist again here, but when we talked about Community oriented policing it seems that are female officers seem to be awfully good at it. And that makes me feel good and I know from my experience that they they perform the job just as well as officers do and and then sometimes and maybe their temperaments even better, you know us males have to kind of get rid of that Macho feeling we seem to have when we go out in the street. So anytime I can Infuse that that female point-of-view. I'm going to enjoy and thanks for catching me on my little girl father. Welcome to Minnesota able your question, please the front of the public, but I realize that they Wishin Township Police Minneapolis of accumulated alarm 10 to do Delirious His image. Well, it's a complex issue as I'm sure you know, it's nothing that we just flip a switch or I sign an order in all of those problems go away. But I think the first thing that I have to do is a chief executive is to set the tone to set the the way to identify the goals and then facilitate from My Level to trickle that down right through the entire organization all the way to the bottom and I shouldn't and bottoms probably not the right word. I like to say percolate up to the top cuz it's so those people in the trenches that do all the work not me and I hope that by example and good policies and fairness in all of those other things that come together that will set a tone in the department that that reputation that we I think undeservedly. I know a lot of high-profile things, but I've been out in those sector cars and I've been on those precincts and I've been shaking hands and talking to young people in and and you've got off fine group of people working out there just a few of them tended to screw things. Before I so we're going to be dealing with that and I hope that maybe you'll be calling me in a year or so and things look a little different some of the police officers have suggested that the department has become something of a Escape go to political football win against true law enforcement General tends to get the point of that to them sometimes and people want to use them as a scapegoat. That's that's certainly true but I don't believe that they are and I think that when we talked about being proactive one of the things that I'll certainly want to do is is is be very proactive about the good things that this department does routinely on a daily basis. I think we had a good example of that yesterday when we uncovered this problem house and busted a big problem down on 4900 South in the city. So yeah, it's a big job done. But I don't think we're the scapegoats and and sometimes you know, if you feel like you are and you become it and we're going to instill The Pride that I know. Exist in this organization and build up that self-esteem and get out there and we going to do a good job. You think the case involving the kind of mics are always been handled properly, you know, one of the things that I won't do as I get here and I've done this before with taking over Police Department in I don't go backwards. I don't post judge people. I don't Monday Morning Quarterback other things. I'm going forward. I was sworn in yesterday. I took over Friday and in and we'll discuss issues in my Administration. I guess today is the new police chief of Minneapolis Robert Olson Vivian's on the line or the question for Minneapolis. Go ahead welcome. Once again, I have a question about syringe exchange. The Whittier neighborhood is not seeming to be very much in favor of having a syringe Exchange program yet. We have one in existence in 50 other cities in the United States and it's proven to be very effective in terms of Preventing the spread of HIV and it also seems to enable getting people into treatment a lot sooner. I was wondering if you have taken a position on that. Well, I don't know what the I have a position. I'm against age and I know what it is a beginning to do to our country and anything that is being done which will minimize the probability of someone getting that dread disease. I'm for that as far as the needle exchange if that reduces that then then that's a good thing and maybe people want to argue about the mechanics of it and where it occurs and all that and some of those are political issues, which I tend to stay out of but anything that'll reduce age in our community. We need to be doing X College on the line from Saint Paul to the question. Go ahead. So my question is for mr. Olson and it has to do with as I heard him say just earlier about moving forward in his administration how he would see his role or policy that would be implemented in addressing the issue of police officers and domestic violence officers who may not necessarily be charged but there's a knowledge that this is occurring how would he see his role of the Department's role in addressing that and how it may be also a comment on how he sees that impact the purview of the job and I'm being able to respond to domestic assault called. I hope I remember all the questions but I think it and correct me if I'm wrong. You're talkin about domestic violence issues involving our Personnel. Is that right? Ok as opposed to the other. Well, I guess all I can say is that that you know, we get our police officers from the very community that we police and so we're not any different than anybody else. We're human beings and we have the same kind of problems and domestic violence is no no different than that from my perspective domestic violence on the part of the police officer is no different than domestic violence on the part of any other Citizen and any policies or procedures and things that will be putting in place as we go along here will incorporate that I guess I don't know how else to to address it. The police officers are not above the law in any regard and I would hope that as an organization we have more safety net and red flag internal things that Will tip us off to the potential for a domestic violence thing being in our department. I can promise you will have internal proactive things to try and deal with it before it becomes a real domestic violence issue. But if in fact there is domestic violence in the wrong and they're they're going to get charged or whatever the process might be just like any other citizen that we could call to their house. If you have suspicions that somebody might be involved in a domestic violence no formal charges and then like that but strong suspicions. Would you still be inclined to send them out on domestic abuse cases as far as our internal people making contact in the in finding out if these rumors or whatever the case is true. I think we'll be doing that and I would hope that this is one area where we're clearly we can work with the Federation. I know we have a funeral play assistance all those kinds of things but I would hope that our whole organization will be proactive to to deal with these kinds of things when we hear that. They might be occurring not so much even from a distance, Tampa. From the idea that helping your employees. What's your sense? Chifa? What is the best way to deal with those kinds of situations are I know they've been different approaches taken and in some communities of people are automatically taken into custody and then things are sorted out later and other instances the officers tend to talk to the parties involved. What's your feeling on that? Well, my experience has been in a course. I'm still in my department in New York. We had a pro arrest policy which I believe in very much a believer in that the end and I'll be looking at our policies here to see if in fact they are pro at a rest cuz I believe in that in and of course if we aren't doing it already, you know, all of the other referral things that you just don't leave that that domestic violence victim out there on the Shelf even if you made an arrest Chapters provide some support or at least some referral that gets in then tries to resolve the underlying issues that the go with domestic violent. Bob is on the line now from Minneapolis with a question for the chief or Cheif. You were just speaking about how important it is not to send a message that police officers are above the law. I don't know if many people are aware that Minneapolis is the only jurisdiction in the state that has a law that exempts police officers from the city's own civil rights law. I'm wondering if you agree that's news to me and I'm current attempt to a man's the law to remove that exemption. Well, I'm not familiar with the specifics of the law and and and it's actual intent. I'll stick with my previous. Comment that officer should not be above the law and I don't even know the purpose of the intent of what you're talkin about. And would you keep piqued my interest here. I'll have to see what it is that the council member. Is he proposing and where it fits in that scheme of things. I suspect it's a little more complicated but thanks for tipping me off Sarah's on the line from Brooklyn Park. Go ahead. I have a question about prevention you were talking earlier about helping kids. I'd like to know how we get the kids that they have no morals. It seems like these days and how the little people can help. Wow, well, you know the immorality and things comes from the home and and that's where the issues of community and family and school and neighborhood and religion and churches and all of that needs to come together as we're forming these people when they're forming their minds and their opinions about things when they're very very young. I don't know the recipe for for how you do that but a lot of these young people, you know, it isn't their fault in the sense that if they grew up in a home if he if you look at the studies of a people who are currently in the penitentiary, you know, half of them came from one parent homes only 28% of them ever graduated from high school or got a GED 1/3 of them had a close relative who had served time in the penitentiary and the list goes on and on and on and you say And then drugs of course is a big area in there. And then you look at it. You say howling and then good Lord can a young person grow up with any morals at all. If they're brought up in that if you look at that raid that we did yesterday, which was really a community policing thing in action. We're neighbors got together with the police officers and we finally got probable cause to raid this house and in my God that there was hardly a crime in the book that these people weren't involved in and it was a dump and it was just as bad as it could possibly be but what really struck home to me was that there was a one and a 6 year old that we're living in that house as well. And and then you wonder why that one and six year old will grow up to not have any morals and not respect people property or authority. That's why we this country's got a big job ahead of it. You get the sense chief that most of the crime The high-profile crimes and so on are being committed by a fairly small group of people who just keep committing Crime After Crime After Crime or are more people more and more people committing crimes. Well, I think that what you said initially is, correct. There's there's a hundred and some studies done that go everywhere. There's a Wolfgang study was done in Philadelphia and it said that its conclusion was that 23% of the people we're committing 61% of the crime. Now, you can move those numbers around and yes career criminals are things in and we talked about community policing career criminals is where you really need to focus your investigative forces. If you take a heroin addict, for example, a heroin addict all by himself will commit 300 crimes a month all by himself. And and and so when we start talking about repeat offender programs in those kind of things the real police work, we need to focus as much of our real police work as possible in 5. These people taking them off the streets put them behind bars and throwing the key way that's where we need to be spending our are prism space. I guess today is the new police chief in the City of Minneapolis Robert Olson Kevin's on the line now with a question calling from St.Paul. Go ahead. I want to know if you're going to work closely with cheese Phineas St. Paul and my second question goes to domestic abuse, as you know, Minnesota has an actor the statute which requires the police to arrest spousal abuse and child abusers and and yet a couple of years ago, This is just chill. There was 12,000 Hennepin County that was 12,000 domestic abuse balls and yet there was only like something that's 4,000 arrest for some of those calls. I just wanted to see if you go to the police officers make in your first, I think he's great and I like calling friend and we can be doing a lot of business together. We have a lot of common issues with nice to go cry in somebody's shoulder. So I got a guy a ride across the river there that understands but to the domestic abuse, yes, I see, you know, I support all of those issues that we need to make a rest and when we talked about the calls though, it's one thing to get a call. It says domestic abuse. It's another thing when the officer gets there to see if in fact they fit the criteria to was it in fact of domestic abuse. I mean, this is so many other things that could have diverted that call to something else. And when it comes to that as a general policy, I think you will see that the Minneapolis Police have been and they will continue to be aggressive and enforcing that statue has gotten worse over the years or do we just hear more about it? Well, frankly, I think we're just hearing more about it. I cannot believe human beings are human beings. I cannot believe that the same level wasn't going on in the fifties just like it is today. It's just that it's almost like sexual assault used to be that really a half of the sexual assault victims. In fact called the police and I think because of our being proactive having more women that working in the department that kind of thing that women are being treated differently and better that there are more likely to come forward there's less stigma and all of those social thing. So, I think it's always been going on Franklin and probably worse than before and you Bring the subject up when you talk about community policing, you know, one of the things that if the department when he starts doing it and you had it in you had a community that didn't trust and didn't like the police. You might find that your crime rates going to go up even higher because they weren't calling us before and now they feel more comfortable calling us and we'll get more calls. So there's there's ups and downs with that concept Wally your question, please do you plan to do about diversity training for your officers? Secondly? What do you what is your plan for hiring more minority officers on the forest and thirdly how you feel about requiring your officers at all city employees to live within the confines of the city limits. I'll take my answer off the phone so you can welcome very well. We're happy to have you here and we're looking forward to the positive change. Thank you very much as far as the diversity. My understanding is that there is there is something to go on. I was there's one program. It was a very happy with that. All of our police recruits have to spend one week working with some community-based organizations. In fact working with a lot of them in order to community and I think this is great exposure for them. I'm going to be this is one of the stops. I haven't made the other courses are training facility in our training command, but but I'm going to be looking at all of these kinds of things and I want to tell you that this we did that New York, and I know it works and in diversity training is going to be a constant ongoing thing with me Minneapolis Police Department as far as hiring minorities. I I also agree with and support the fact that the that the police department being such a close an integral part of the community should reflect the community and it's not something that you can just do. Tomorrow and my understanding is that the Minneapolis Police already have a mechanism to help out in that regard was civil service that has to do with a Cadet program that they have understanding might even be some something in the legislature right now too kind of reaffirm that Minneapolis can continue doing this and that it's been very very successful in bringing the ratio of minority candidates on the department up and women. In fact, I was looking at some statistics that just in the last five years the numbers have grown significantly. I think we're running around 14% that we need to get higher and and I would just want to say that from my perspective and within my area of authority and responsibility I'm going to do whatever I can working with the city and civil service and anybody else I need to to continue that progress so that our department more and more will become representative of the people we serve The other part of it had to do with residency requirements think I mentioned that earlier I I do not believe that I'm going to the past is the past and I'm not going to tell some officers nice house and he lives 25 blocks outside the city and all you got to sell your house and you going to come back in here and I'm going to disrupt his life on that her life member of that last call. I'm not going to to do that. However, I am I was very pleased to find at the city has in fact established a residency rule for all of this new employees. And I think that's the fair and best way to do it and I would encourage that. I hope that I'll be able to talk to be looking at some programs maybe that I could get some organizations to develop some incentives where officers might come back, you know, some low interest rates for a house for a who knows but I believe in I think that's going to take care of itself. Eventually Steve's on the line with our next question calling from Rosemont. Are you she commits? I've heard numbers like that before and all other rhetoric aside. What is your opinion of decriminalization criminalization of drugs. Do you think this would do to the crime rate and the safety of the citizens in in general less worried about the crime rate than I would the safety of citizens in the and the Sub surreal significant impact on our society as we know it. I don't believe that as a nation. We are ready to take drugs and and and put it on a public health. It's a far more complicated issue and at this stage, I would not be for any kind of decriminalization I think is the term because that opens up a whole nother Pandora's Box about things because then we would have to regulate it. And you say wait a minute. Why would I have to regulate it? Well, I would like to know how many hours before that airplane pilot on Northwest takes me back to visit my family in New York. Can he take LSD? Well, I don't know right now. They have to go 24 hours without alcohol or something. But I mean we will be opening up a Pandora's Box that I don't think the system Society or anybody else is ready for it and and and are a lot of people out there who stay away from that because of the law I would not be for decriminalization III love the debate and I would love to sit down and talk to some people. I know Kirk Smokey and in Baltimore, I believe he's been professing that for a long time, but that's a far more complicated issues in a yay. Nay. My neck is on the line from South Minneapolis. Go ahead. Monica Veloster I think I think She's So Gone Away their maybe we get her back on the line mean while it's going to another color. Go ahead Indianapolis. I'll ask my questions and I'll hang up as well. And listen. First question I have is it seems as though over the last several years. We haven't really had a solidified Force there seems to be so many people doing other things so many questions about the Integrity of Ashley the force that has said nothing more than to break it down and to precipitate a problem and I wondered what your short-term as well as your long-term plan is going to be to bring the forest together to really mean something and have a great trust level for the city Minneapolis. The other question that I have is it seems as though so many the police officers that I come in contact with are doing so many part-time jobs and other jobs that they lose sight of the very first job that they're doing and I know that they can make great money at doing it but it seems as though them when they go to their regular work. The intent of why they're there is secondary and it's become such a money-making thing in the the union setback them and protect them to the loudest to go on that at times when I talk to people it might be their third or fourth or fifth part time job that they're doing in there making tremendous amounts of money. So the cash is more of an incentive than my actual job. So thank you and I'll hang up. Okay. Well, those are some big ones they are some big ones end. And in the first one the course is how to bring the department together. Well, it's got to start at the top and I think that has to do with with leadership Direction. Everybody needs to know where we're headed not Howard had it but where we're headed so that everything that the organization does fits into those goals that we're going we are going to be sitting together and that has to start with the leadership at the top. So the solid Forester that you mentioned, I think it's it's really kind of there. We just have to Chapter point it all in the same direction and and get moving and that's going to happen here naturally over time. So I recognize exactly what you're asking and I think it's just going to take time to do I mean it let me interrupt here. Just a moment. How would you describe your leadership style Chief Olson? Are you kind of a tough guy sort of a new age sensitive new Millenia Guy where Audi where do you see yourself fitting? It is all of the above. Seriously, I guess that's the first step. There are times when you have to be tough and I can be and will be but those are always my last resort. I'd like to look at myself more as a facilitator. I think that when we talked about someone who's in a position that has power and I have power. I have a lot of power and a lot of power over the lives of over a thousand employees and I have powers on people outside and the way I often think to measure how good a manager or leader really is its how often they don't use their power and I guess that's the way I like to build consensus. I like to I like to have everybody get their buying or their input or whatever the case might be before the final decisions are made though. The final decisions are mine and they are made by me cuz a buck does stop at my desk, but I like to think my style is all of those things as is needed. I don't like doing negative things to prevent me having to do negative in the first place and I'll be working with the Federation and anybody else to try in. Identify the flags that we can save some people before they do something. That's so bad that nobody's got any choice on the matter. And so that's kind of the style but delete end of that part time issue as well. You know, when my vernacular I look at that is no witches. You're a job in which is your be job and being a police officer is the a job. I know that this part-time employment thing has been a big issue here in Minneapolis, and I've had experience with it in Omaha and certainly down in Corpus Christi. I had the blessing of a state law in New York that prohibits any police officer working in uniform off duty. He wasn't an issue. But I realize that it is not the simple idea of part-time work out of the more and more I read about it and I'm still learning and gathering information and putting together some proposals that I'm going to try and get to some consensus on I realize that officers do and should be able to work part-time. I don't have any problem with that. Concerned about the issues of of how much they're working how well it's controlled and who's watching the store and who's reporting to who the responsibility and certainly the liability issues that the city takes on with these assignments. I understand that it's just a small part of the part time work that's really been causing a lot of the consternation. I hope that this is one issue that I'm going to try again and and put the bed relatively soon for the officer sake certainly and so that we can move on and do the important issues of policing. Do you think you should take charge of all off-duty work assignments at least put give your approval to them well, and that's that would clearly be in there and I think they have a system in place where the approvals are. In fact made to buy the administration. I think all those powers are still there. I just have to see how how do we administer it to shouldn't happen right out of the police department. I have some legal concerns. I really want to sit down with the city attorney on this one because There's a federal law called the FSL a and at what point in time are they in fact really city employees as opposed to private contracted employees. And then there are some subtle legal nuances here that I want to have clear in my mind before I make any final decisions about to how the Department's going to deal with it. But I agree with the caller in the sense that that they can go overboard and and and and then all that money it's almost like a junkie, you know, they just got to keep once you start getting that it's it's pretty hard not to keep making that money. And and so maybe we have to wean them off. I don't know how but we have to set some very good ground rules. So that this is there a job. And in fact that the most important thing and they are ready to go to work when they hit the street I guess today is Robert Olson. They new police chief in the City of Minneapolis. Joann is on the line now for the next question. Go ahead. Good morning, Chief. I was wondering what you had to call her talking earlier about diversity training and I was wondering what kind of training will you give minority officer majority concerns and I'll hang up and listen to your response. Well, I think that when we talked about diversity training that in fact includes just what you're saying about. I know I am I hired an outfit in fact from from Florida to come up to New York to initially give ours and train some of our trainers but they talked about the new paradigms as a concept of of change in in in in the included all of that because that's really what we're talking about here is people and people understanding people and getting together and that involves not not just a focus on a few and we have several minority groups of cultural groups in our city. We're very Diversified and not as much as the New York City. I had a community. But there's an awful lot and and I agree with you that goes both ways. And then when I review the training curriculum relative to this if it's not in there, I would certainly make sure that it is because everybody has to learn how to get along with everybody and that and that includes a reverse that you mention next up a bill for Minneapolis. Go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity and congratulations on your appointment to a fine Police Department. Thank you understanding. The mission of the police is to protect and to serve the citizens. So says the police cars I'm getting a little tired of that slogan. We got to find another one that says a little bit more than that affect their colleagues serve the citizens and then finally protect the public. and when you comment on what you can do to try to break down the blue wall that exists within the department where the morale is so poor that the officers are reluctant to Not snitch, but to bring forth any complaints as other officers at this blue wall that exists prohibits the trust for being developed with the public and just like we need to expand this community play fight with the citizens like it's imperative that the police officers themselves crack that blue wall have respect for their colleagues and demonstrate some leadership in the community and and threw out the bad apples walls in Minneapolis or no different than the blue walls in Dallas and Fort Worth and Houston and Miami and in every place else, but you're really talking about is a is a police culture has been around for a hundred and fifty years and that culture is now going through culture shock with the Advent of community policing and it's slowly but surely taking hold. I'm I'm optimistic. I think that that that that blue wall is there if you want to call it that is is Getting Thinner and thinner as as the Departments evolutionary process here in community policing and in doing the things that we're doing I'm not going to give you any particulars but we have a serious discipline case with right now that I become aware of and in 10 minutes because the officers at the scene came to the superiors and said hey this officer was out of line and I was very encouraging and I'm finding out there's more of those than ever seems to find its way out into the Press. I think that the best way that you deal with this whole issue is again that you it has to do with leadership that has to start with me and has to filter all the way down that we want have and take pride in a good clean Police Department that takes care of and is responsible to the citizens because as I said yesterday the citizens the people are our power and and we must keep that in mind as we go about our daily business and I think that we're going to see something. I think it's just a lot of officers out there. They need to make sure they're going to be backed up when these things happen and that their support going all the way down that chain of command and if I have my way that certainly going to happen is there really a need for a civilian review agency in Minneapolis opening up the doors at the police department and everything that we do to the citizens and that includes the internal affairs function just like a does our records function. We have nothing to hide and we shouldn't have anything to hide. I believe that there should be citizen involvement at all levels and that includes list iced. I haven't had a chance to to meet with or look at this civilian review Authority, but I would like to look at it and make sure it's not going at cross-purposes and maybe somehow Dog Taylor together. We'll see what happens is I was glad to hear at least that regardless of what direction a complaint goes. It ends at my desk and I want to be very clear that the Possibility for discipline within the police department must remain in the police chief. I'm the one that's responsible for this department that has to stop at my desk and not someplace else. So why I'm glad to see that that still in there, but I'm going to want to take a look at that entity. Look at our Internal Affairs and and you know, I don't know that we need to separate things going on there, but we'll see what I come up with Jack. I think you get the last question for the chief. Go ahead. Welcome to Minneapolis Convention Space Program. What kind of noticed over the years that the funding for? It is been sliding off and we better do something about that very much worried that Set if we don't have a few more resources. Not saying we have to go back to the big bucks. We had many many years ago at it. But if we could go back and get some more effort into that neighborhood block clubs are going to start petering out and you know, that's one of my first lines of defense and I think it's going to need a little infusion of money and it's going to need some salesmanship on your part with that city council. I think you're right and I look forward to you know, we already this budget already set. But as we do our planning and we get ready for the budget process such upcoming be doing a lot of that and then certainly that's going to be a very important program. I think the first my responsibility though is to take a look at the department in and we need to make the best use of the resources. We already have and once I feel comfortable that where we were doing that you bet I'll be out there looking for those resources to keep programs like the Play programming been done yesterday was a classic example of how that works and then keep it going she falls and I know you have some prior commitment. So we're going to let you go here. But that before you run off just a quick quicker response. If you would how do people measure your success or lack thereof. Watch the crime rate because you take credit for it going down. You got to take credit for it going up and it's much more complex than that. I would say that the best measure will be how do you feel as a citizen? How do you feel about the community with what you know has been going on in the resources we've had and you don't have we done our best with what we've got. I think maybe that's the measure that the citizens take a look at it. If they don't think we've done our best with what we got then yeah, maybe we need new leadership, but I can only save that we're going to do our best and well, maybe we'll talk to your friend. What's the see how people feel all right, we put you down. Thanks a lot for joining us today. Really? Appreciate it. Thank you. The new police chief Robert Olson.