Both reports are being completed by outside bodies at the city's expense and will be presented to the City Council on Wednesday.
The convention report is being drafted by a blue-ribbon commission created by Mayor Chris Coleman and approved by the City Council.
The Police Department assessment, which examines the structure, staffing levels and efficiency of the department as a whole, is being done by a private consulting firm hired by the department.
RNC Review
Inside the Xcel Energy Center from Sept. 1-4, the RNC went off with nary a hitch. But outside, the streets of St. Paul seemed at times unrecognizable, as demonstrations and marches were punctuated by vandalism and police clad in riot gear shooting tear-gas canisters into crowds. More than 800 people were arrested, and mass arrests swept up the elderly and journalists along with protesters.
During and afterward, both accolades and accusations of a "police state" were heaped on law enforcement, with the lead agency, the St. Paul Police Department, receiving the most.
In October, Coleman tapped two former federal prosecutors -- Republican Thomas Heffelfinger and Democrat Andrew Luger -- to co-chair a commission to swiftly review the entire security situation, from advance planning to the action in the streets. The commission grew to seven members, including former cops, a former mayor and a professor who teaches civil rights.
The panel will present findings and recommendations -- in a thick report with photo and video exhibits -- Wednesday. In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Luger and Heffelfinger said the panel logged untold hours, including late nights and entire weekends, to complete the report.
They refused to discuss specifics but spoke generally of the panel's methods.
In subgroups, commission members interviewed protesters, journalists and police officers, from senior commanders to rank-and-file street cops. They also attended public forums and sponsored their own public events.
Luger said they examined "hundreds" of still photographs and "hours and hours" of video, ranging from police videos to independent media footage, including "Terrorizing Dissent," a highly critical production led by the New York-based Glass Bead Collective.
"We've received countless written submissions from members of the public describing their views and experiences," Luger said. "We have very detailed experiences of what happened."
He said cooperation was plentiful. "From the media, the community and from law enforcement, we received a great deal of information. People were candid, people were self-critical and people were very open with us."
The City Council approved a contract for Luger and Heffelfinger for $100,000 plus some expenses. The pair refused to say how the money is being divvied up among them and other panel members.
The panel never deliberated publicly on the contents of the report, and Luger and Heffelfinger said they will not make public any data not contained in the final report.
"There were a lot of high emotions about this event and the police interactions, and exposing our investigations and deliberations to that emotion, we wanted to keep it separate from that," Heffelfinger said.
Police Assessment
Unrelated to the RNC, the "best practices assessment" of the entire Police Department was launched to make sure city resources were being used wisely. Other city departments have already been reviewed. An audit of the Fire Department released in 2007 recommended sweeping changes.
Berkshire Advisors Inc., which is based in Ohio and has experience in police department assessments, completed the review for $176,600. It held three public hearings last spring so St. Paul residents could weigh in on how the Police Department is working.
The city requested the Civilian Review Board also be included in the assessment.
"We want to make sure that it's working," Deputy Mayor Ann Mulholland said last year. "We've heard rumors that some think it's not. We want to know so we can fix it."
They also asked for evaluation of the department's school resource officer program, parks and recreation facilities security, technology, management structure and training, among other areas.
The "best practices assessment" was started in February. Last spring, Mulholland estimated it would be finished in the summer, but it was delayed because staff time was diverted to the RNC, said Bob Hume, the mayor's spokesman.
"We're a growing department, and as we move to expand, there's always growing pains," police spokesman Peter Panos said.
The department is the city's biggest expense, but the current financial crisis has forced Coleman to put a tentative freeze on new officers. If it remains, 2009 would be the first time in his tenure that cops haven't been added to the ranks.
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