Naomi Gaines case raises questions about police procedure

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The St. Paul woman charged with throwing her twin 14-month-old sons into the Mississippi River last week appears to have prompted repeated crisis calls to the police. An analysis of police records by the Star Tribune shows that police were called to the address of Naomi Gaines twenty-one times in the past three years. Gaines was charged with murder and attempted murder after throwing her sons off the Wabasha Street bridge on July 4th. Two of the calls were termed "family/children-child abuse," and two others "death-attempted suicide". The remaining 18 calls were cleared by officers who told dispatchers they advised people at the scene. Sargent Chris Nelson says the St. Paul Police Department has been working closely with crisis units for over twelve years. He doesn't think the Gaines case is indicative of a procedural problem at the police department.

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