St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry speaks at a news conference announcing an arrest in the murder of Michael Brasel, who was shot by a teen Brasel caught rummaging through his wife’s car. Henry has completed half his six-year term as chief of police and seen murder rates fall significantly in the past year. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Axel Henry became St. Paul’s police chief when the murder rate was high for the city and the department was understaffed.

Halfway into his six-year term, violence is down more significantly than what’s been seen nationally. Henry credits a major part of that to the department’s new focused effort on solving nonfatal shootings.

Hiring still hasn’t kept up with the pace of retirements and departures, though the police department has recently held academies twice a year to try to address that.

Henry, a St. Paul officer since 1998, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by rising through the department’s ranks. Before he was appointed chief by Mayor Melvin Carter, he was commander of the narcotics and human trafficking unit.

The St. Paul city charter says police chiefs serve six-year terms, so new mayors often inherit a current police chief. State Rep. Kaohly Her, elected mayor this month over Carter, said she and Henry have “had a great working relationship.”

When federal agents descended on a St. Paul warehouse this week during an immigration raid, in which they arrested 14 workers, people were scrambling for information. St. Paul police officers were not involved in the operation.

“I appreciated the clear, direct communication this week around immigration action,” Her said in a statement about Henry. “His steady hand ensured we were operating on facts, not assumptions.”

For patrol officers, Henry’s time as chief has meant they’re feeling “more supported,” said Mark Ross, St. Paul Police Federation president.

Ross and Henry both say more still needs to be done to increase hiring. The department has recently held academies — how the department brings officers on board — twice a year instead of annually to try to keep prospective officers from getting recruited away by another law enforcement agency while waiting for St. Paul.

Henry sat down with the Pioneer Press for an interview about his first three years as chief and what he still wants to accomplish. This interview has been edited for space and clarity.

Q: What’s been the reality of what you wanted to do and what you’ve been able to?

A: I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do around gun violence. Of course, it’s not just reducing it for the moment. You have to reduce it again the next year and the next year.

The number of murders really does drive a lot of perceptions. If you’re doing all the other public safety things right, your murder number goes down. (There had been 11 homicides in St. Paul this year as of Friday; there were 29 in the city during the same period last year. The department continues to have a high rate of solving homicides.)

But some of what I thought we were going to be able to tackle, like a lot of the issues with quality of life downtown, have not gone the way I thought they would. That’s not all on the police department, but I’m a part of that equation.

Q: How have you approached violent crime?

A: One of the things the mayor asked me about right away was, “How do we get this murder rate down?” If you look at the 20-year average, these last six years of murders of 30 or more a year were way too high, but they became the norm.

I always tell people: The data doesn’t tell you what to do. It tells you where to look, and that tells you how to find the solution to a problem.

The mayor said, “How quickly do you think you could bring that down?” I said, “The murder number isn’t a number you can just push down. You have to push down on a bunch of other things.”

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If you do a better job on domestic violence calls, it drives it down. If you get more guns off the street, if you deal with group violence so they’re not fighting as much, that brings it down. You do a better job of comprehensive investigations and solving nonfatal shootings.

The mayor said, “How long do you think it would take for that to actually happen?” I said, “I know what other levers to push, or at least I believe I do, and if I’m right, it’ll take about 24 to 36 months.” We’re literally right there.

(The department’s nonfatal shooting unit started in January 2024. There were 63 nonfatal shootings in St. Paul as of Monday, compared with 95 in the same timeframe last year. The clearance rate for such cases was 37 in 2023 and increased to 69 percent last year.)

One of the things that I think really is marbled into every piece of our success is morale.

Q: What’s the link between success and morale?

A: I always joke with (previous St. Paul police chief) Todd Axtell that he gets a heavyweight belt. Within the first weeks of his term, Philando Castile happened (he was fatally shot by a St. Anthony police officer in Falcon Heights). Then COVID, and George Floyd.

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry speaks during a dedication ceremony renaming the St. Paul Police Department Eastern District station in honor of slain St. Paul police officer Ron Ryan Jr. on Aug. 26, 2024. Ryan and fellow officer Tim Jones, along with Jones’ K9 partner Laser, were killed in the line of duty on Aug. 26, 1994. Mayor Melvin Carter is at right. Henry was promoted to chief at a time he described as a “dark period in law enforcement.” (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

We were coming out of a dark period in law enforcement when I became chief. I think the cops, understandably so, were feeling like they were hated.

That was part of the reason why I told the mayor when I applied for this job that I think the city needs a factory floor chief now: Someone that’s way more connected to the police officers. They deserve a leader internally. We focus so much on this job as a leadership position out in the community, but at the end of the day, you’re still in charge of leading the department.

The message of “service with purpose” and “what you do matters” has been the drum that I’ve been beating since before I was the chief.

Q: Some police chiefs I’ve talked to keep a photo in their drawer or their wallet of a victim in an unsolved case that weighs on them. Do you have anything like that?

A: I have something like that, too (pointing toward his bookcase, where a small piece of paper is taped, with a name he wrote on it — Bao Yang). That happened before I was the chief.

She had a restraining order and her ex-boyfriend set off all the alarm bells. She finally got away from her abusive partner and he shot and killed her in her front yard. She was a nurse and doing wonderful things.

I always look at her name and it reminds me why we’re out here and that, if you do it right, you can prevent these things from happening.

Q: You’ve talked about decreasing retaliatory violence. How have you done that?

A: If a young person gets killed in gun violence, then it’s like a cliche that someone’s going to show up at the funeral and shoot it up. If it’s predictable, it’s preventable.

Forever, before I was the chief, we would go out there in unmarked cars and try to watch and make sure that those things weren’t happening. We caught someone running on the West Side during a memorial for the student that was killed at Harding (High School). That’s another case that is going to be stuck in my mind forever.

The person we caught during the memorial had an extended magazine and a gun with a switch, and the mayor said, “How did you guys catch him so fast?” I said, “Cops were out there. Not in marked cars. We can’t do that because the community gets mad at us.”

The mayor said, “Would you be willing to put marked cars out there?” Now, if we have a funeral that was due to gun violence, you’ll see cops out there in marked cars, in uniform, and it’s been a deterrence.

Q: What’s an example of change that’s taken longer than you expected?

A: The ordinance issue is probably my highest frustration. There are some ordinances we have that are clearly antiquated and are just no longer enforceable, and the city doesn’t enforce them, so they shouldn’t be on the books anymore.

I think the community can come together and decide, “What are the problems that ail us that we have an issue with? There’s probably a legal way to enforce that.” We should either write a new ordinance or tweak the one we have to make sure that it’s addressing the problems.

We should be doing that, particularly downtown, on some of these lower-level issues that really drive a lot of the bigger problems that we have. And for sure, they drive the perception of safety in the city.

We can all be empathetic towards the plight of the folks that are unsheltered, the drug problem and the mental illness issues people are dealing with. But we can’t do that at the expense of our businesses that have been leaving and now we’ve got buildings that are vacant downtown, and that’s really the financial tax engine for our city.

Q: The department was below staff when you came in. Has it rebounded?

A: We’ve been in the middle of a big retirement boom and we haven’t been able to get enough people in the academies to make up the difference. (Authorized strength is currently 616 officers. There are 559 officers with 537 able to work, and the remainder on military, disability or other leave.)

This year, we’ll potentially be up between academy graduates and retirements. This is a classic example of how this is an aircraft carrier, not a jet ski. You can’t turn it around at a moment’s notice.

Part of what I figured out very quickly as the chief was it wasn’t enough to talk about recruitment and retention. You had to add development in there. You’ve got to be getting your people opportunities to go to the best trainings, to develop your own trainings.

Q: How have you done that?

A: An example is the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference. It’s normal for the chief and deputy chiefs to go. The first year, I asked, “Who’s been there?” And five people raised their hand. Then, “Who here wants to go?” And every other hand went up. I thought, instead of me going every year, we’ll let other people go.

One of the first questions I asked was, “When was the last time St. Paul hosted a command school?” It was 2005. We’re hosting one now (Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., put on the intensive leadership program at the St. Paul police training facility and graduation was Friday). We were able to send four people because we received two spots for hosting.

Q: You said you’ve talked to Mayor-elect Her?

A: I’ve known her because she’s been a state representative. I will tell you, she brought me egg rolls today (Wednesday). I’ve never had anybody do that.

She said, “I know yesterday (when there was an ICE raid) was a tough day, and you got your phone blown up by all kinds of people with, ‘What’s going on?’ even though your department wasn’t there.” That was such a nice, thoughtful thing. The staff here, they were blown away by it.

She has been nothing but supportive of me. The first conversation we had, I was clear in saying, “I’m never going to argue with you publicly if we have a disagreement,” which was the same with Mayor Carter. She has said very openly that she doesn’t want to surround herself with “Yes” people.

Another thing I told the current mayor when I applied for this job was, “I will never lie to you, which means I can make you a second promise.” He said, “What’s that?” I said, “You won’t always like what I tell you.”

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Q: What else do you want people to know about you and the department?

A: There’s an old joke in my line of work that the two things that cops hate are change and the way things are.

I tell this to people all the time: I will never really know if I did a good job until after I’m gone because if the whole thing falls apart or they reverse every decision I ever made, then you’re going to think, “Apparently that was all terrible.”

It is intimidating to take on this job because St. Paul has done many things so well that it’s almost easier if someone hands you a broken-down jalopy and says, “Fix it,” but we’re not that.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb

After several years of stubborn inflation and steep borrowing costs, this holiday season finds many families determined to celebrate — but quietly worried about how much they’re spending.

With the average American planning to shell out roughly $1,700 on gifts, travel, and entertaining this year (up from about $1,430 in 2022) those worries are understandable.

Furthermore, tariffs have already raised prices by an average of 5%, according to the Harvard Business School Pricing Lab’s analysis of more than 350,000 goods. Ultimately, companies pass along their increased costs to consumers. Frequent holiday staples like toys, electronics and clothing are some of the products most impacted by tariffs, with costs increasing as much as 35% in some categories.

Even for people who manage to stay within budget, six in 10 shoppers later regret at least some of their purchases, especially parents with young children who often overspend to make the season “perfect.”

That buyer’s remorse doesn’t only come from an empty wallet. It also comes from guilt: the uneasy sense that we’ve spent too much, or on the wrong things, or for the wrong reasons. The good news is that a few simple mindset shifts and habits can help you celebrate generously without feeling financial regret come January.

Start with joy, not numbers

Financial advisers usually tell clients to keep emotion out of money decisions. The holidays are the exception. Budgeting by emotion and buying what truly brings joy to the recipient can be more effective than budgeting by category.

Start by making a “joy-per-dollar” list. Which purchases last year made you happiest? Which ones barely registered once the wrapping paper hit the recycling bin? Cut the low-joy categories first. Then pre-commit an overall number for generosity (covering gifts, charitable donations, and gatherings) and say it out loud to a partner or friend. This small act of accountability helps keep your plan real.

Use a cap that fights spending creep

A common rule of thumb is to keep total holiday spending within 1-2% of annual income, but you should pick the level that’s right for you. Translating that limit into weekly mini-budgets between now and New Year’s can prevent that “just-one-more-gift” mentality. The idea isn’t to cut out celebration, but to contain it, so you can enjoy the season without regretting overspending.

Buy early, buy fewer, buy better

Inflation may have eased, but prices on many goods remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. Stretch your dollars by shopping early and intentionally. Prioritize one meaningful gift per person rather than a pile of filler gifts. If you’re traveling or hosting, fold those costs such as gas, airfare, hotels and food into your holiday plan from the start instead of treating them as extras.

Whenever possible, choose experiences over material goods: a family concert, a cooking class, or tickets to a local attraction. These memories often outlast items. And if you can, shop local and purchase items that reflect your values. Spending that aligns with your principles will ultimately feel more rewarding in the long run.

Cards, cash, and ‘buy now, pay later’

Today’s average credit card interest rate is roughly 21%, meaning every impulse swipe of your card can quickly become expensive. If you tend to carry a balance, consider using a debit card or a prepaid spending account for gifts. Turn on real-time spending alerts in your mobile banking app; this can serve as a modern substitute for the old cash-envelope system.

And be cautious with “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) plans. Surveys show nearly half of BNPL users regret at least one purchase. If you do use one, limit yourself to a single BNPL loan at a time and set calendar reminders for each payment.

Three quick ways to curb impulse buying

• Apply the 48-hour rule. Leave online items in your cart for two days; if you still want them after 48 hours, clink “checkout.”

• Say no to instant-discount store cards. Their teaser offers often come with higher interest rates.

• Unsubscribe and mute. Reducing promotional emails and retail app notifications can help you stick to your list.

When you’ve already overspent

If the damage is done, don’t panic, just prioritize. Pay down the highest-rate balances first. Return unopened items or exchange them for shared experiences instead. Then automate payments above the minimum to ensure progress. A short-term balance-transfer card can help, but only if you’re confident you can clear the debt before the low-interest window closes.

Focus on gratitude, not guilt

Ultimately, guilt fades when your plan matches your values. Give yourself permission to celebrate wisely. The holidays are about connection, not perfection, and about sharing what matters most, not what costs the most.

A little planning, a little perspective, and a lot of gratitude can turn this year’s spending season into one you’ll remember fondly, not fretfully. And that’s a gift worth keeping.

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb are financial advisers at Wealth Enhancement Group and co-hosts of “Your Money” on WCCO 830 AM on Sunday mornings. Email Bruce and Peg at yourmoney@wealthenhancement.com. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, a registered investment adviser and affiliate of Wealth Enhancement Group.

 

President Donald Trump’s pledge to terminate temporary legal protections for Somalis living in Minnesota is triggering fear in the state’s deeply-rooted immigrant community, along with doubts about whether the White House has the legal authority to enact the directive as described.

In a Truth Social post late Friday, Trump said he would “immediately” strip Somali residents in Minnesota of Temporary Protected Status, a legal safeguard against deportation for immigrants from certain countries.

The announcement drew immediate pushback from some state leaders and immigration experts, who characterized Trump’s declaration as a legally dubious effort to sow fear and suspicion toward Minnesota’s Somali community, the largest in the nation.

“There’s no legal mechanism that allows the president to terminate protected status for a particular community or state that he has beef with,” said Heidi Altman, policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center.

“This is Trump doing what he always does: demagoguing immigrants without justification or evidence and using that demagoguery in an attempt to take away important life-saving protections,” she added.

The Trump administration has until mid-January to revoke the legal protection for Somalis nationally. But that move would affect only a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of Somalis living in Minnesota. A report produced for Congress in August put the number of Somalis covered by TPS at just 705 nationwide.

“I am a citizen and so are (the) majority of Somalis in America,” Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Somali, said in a social media post Friday. “Good luck celebrating a policy change that really doesn’t have much impact on the Somalis you love to hate.”

Still, advocates warned the move could inflame hate against a community at a time of rising Islamophobia.

“This is not just a bureaucratic change,” said Jaylani Hussein, president of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “It is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric.”

In his social media post, Trump claimed, without offering evidence, that Somali gangs had targeted Minnesota residents and referred to the state as a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”

Federal prosecutors have in recent weeks brought charges against dozens of people in a social-services fraud scheme. Some of the defendants hail from Somalia. “Accountability is coming,” Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer wrote in response to that story.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, has noted that Minnesota consistently ranks among the safest states in the country.

“It’s not surprising that the President has chosen to broadly target an entire community,” Walz said Friday. “This is what he does to change the subject.”

In response to Trump’s announcement, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison his office was “exploring all of our options,” adding that Trump “cannot terminate TPS for just one state or on a bigoted whim.”

“Somali folks came to Minnesota fleeing conflict, instability and famine, and they have become an integral part of our state, our culture and our community,” he added.

The protection has been extended 27 times for Somalians since 1991, with U.S. authorities determining that it was unsafe for people already in the United States to return there.

Somalia for decades has been regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous countries. People have been fleeing ever since leader Siad Barre was removed in 1991 by clan-based militias and civil war erupted. The chaos later led to the rise of the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group, which still holds parts of the country and carries out deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere against the fragile federal government.

Community advocates note that the Somali diaspora in Minnesota has helped to revitalize downtown corridors in Minneapolis and plays a prominent role in the state’s politics.

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“The truth is that the Somali community is beloved and long-woven into the fabric of many neighborhoods and communities in Minnesota,” said Altman. “Destabilizing families and communities makes all of us less safe and not more.”

As part of a broader push to adopt hardline immigration policies, the Trump administration has moved to withdraw various protections that had allowed immigrants to remain in the United States and work legally.

That included ending TPS for 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who were granted protection under President Joe Biden. The Trump administration has also sought to limit protections previously extended to migrants from Cuba and Syria, among other countries.

WINNIPEG — For his first pregame warmup of his second stint with the Minnesota Wild, center Nico Sturm was wired up with a strap around his chest that holds a cardiac monitor.

With that, team trainers were keeping an eye on Sturm’s heartbeat and other vital signs during the 12 to 15 minutes he spent wearing a Wild game jersey, passing and shooting with teammates, with no intention of actually getting to play against the Penguins on Friday.

If Sturm was trying to conceal his excitement about getting back into a NHL game, biofeedback gave him away.

“They said I had a (heart) load for a full period out there,” Sturm said, speaking to reporters in the Pittsburgh press box as his future teammates overwhelmed the Penguins.

After returning to the Wild as a free agent this summer, Sturm suffered an injury on Day 1 of training camp. It required surgery.

“I always like to say as you play a lot more games in the league, the second I think you do that and it doesn’t feel special anymore is when you probably know that it’s time to hang them up,” Sturm said. “And I think I’m a long, long way from that.”

Sturm turned 30 in May, when he was in the midst of a Stanley Cup run with the Florida Panthers. Not long after the Cup parade in South Florida, he signed a contract with Minnesota and made arrangements to return to where it all started. He made his NHL debut with the Wild in 2019, after a long and winding road that included stops in his native Germany, in Texas, in southern Minnesota, in Nebraska, and upstate New York,

He played 120 games with the Wild over the course of four seasons.

After spending time with Colorado, San Jose and Florida, Sturm opted to come back to Minnesota and bring his renowned faceoff and penalty killing skills to the Wild. Then the injury happened, and his future was suddenly cast into doubt.

In missing the Wild’s first 22 games, Sturm will jump into the lineup in Winnipeg on Sunday for a team that has emphatically rejoined the Western Conference playoff picture by going 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.

That’s a far cry from the 3-6-3 October that Sturm watched in street clothes.

“I think there’s a part in your career, I think especially early on, where you don’t want things to go too well when you’re not playing,” he said. “I mean, it’s the truth. You need your spot on the lineup. Teams that win all the time don’t make a ton of changes. And now I’m at a point in my career where all I want to do is win.

“So, it’s like I don’t care if I’m not in the lineup and we win. Hell, yeah. I’m fired up for the boys, especially with the way we started, and I want to play playoffs as soon I came here, so can’t be sitting and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, yeah, we lost six games, but it’ll get better when I’m back in lineup.’ But we’ve got to make playoffs, so it doesn’t really matter.”

With Vinnie Hinostroza headed back to Minnesota with an injury, Sturm is a good bet to center the team’s third line between Yakov Trenin and Marcus Foligno when the Wild meet the Jets here for the first time this season.

Jets face a flight delay

The Jets announced Friday that star goalie Connor Hellebuyck will miss the next 4-6 weeks with because of what the team is calling minor knee surgery. Last season, Hellebuyck won 47 games and loaded up on NHL hardware, grabbing league honors for the top goalie and the most valuable player.

He was also the goalie of record as the Jets went 3-0-0 against the Wild.

For now, Eric Comrie and Thomas Milic are expected to be Winnipeg’s goalie tandem. For those wondering about the status of Team USA’s top goalie, it was pointed out that Hellebuyck is expected to be healthy in time for the 2026 Winter Olympics in February.

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