by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleader.com
St. Joseph Police Chief Joel Klein said a recent application for an Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant to hire a ninth officer for the department was denied.
It was hoped that the grant would cover about 75 percent of the new officer’s salary for about three years.
Klein said they will not be hiring in 2017, but he will make a request to hire in 2018.
“I’m guessing the grant failed because there are other cities out there that need it more than we do because of the crime rate,” Klein said. “It doesn’t help our odds of getting someone additional when last year we were (named) the safest city to live in and this year we are No. 2.”
Klein was referring to a report released this year by Alarm System Review in which St. Joseph was named Minnesota’s second-safest city to live in. Last year, a home security company report named St. Joseph the safest city to live in.
The Alarm System Review report lists the 15 safest cities in Minnesota. It limited its search to areas with at least 2,500 or more residents and compared them to each other through crime statistics. The report used a rating system based on a standard of crimes per 1,000 residents, including both violent and property crimes.
The St. Joseph Police Department currently has eight full-time officers, two part-time officers, a records specialist and six reserve officers.
Klein had hoped to add additional staff because of increasing population growth in the city. The population of the city is expected to increase with new senior housing, including Country Manor and Fortitude Senior Living of St. Joseph.
The Alarm System Review estimates the city’s population to be 6,678, violent crime rates are 0.0 (per 1,000) and property crime rates are 3.0 (per 1,000). It names Plainview as as the safest place to live this year.
The St. Joseph Police Department will move into the new city-government building, which is expected to be completed in February.
To review the Alarm System Review report, visit alarmsystemreviews.com/15-safest-places-live-minnesota-2016.
