A new, centralized records system for Dakota County law enforcement groups took another step forward Wednesday afternoon, as officials announced the deployment of nearly $1 million in federal funding for the program.

The new records management system being developed — Criminal Justice Network — would allow agencies to integrate information more easily, and modernize how law enforcement groups share, view and record information with each other.

The funding was jointly announced Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at the Safety and Mental Health Alternative Response Training (SMART) Center in Inver Grove Heights, with several law enforcement officials from participating Dakota County agencies also on hand.

Of the 12 total law enforcement agencies in Dakota County, nine have signed on to the new records system: the Dakota County sheriff’s office plus the Burnsville, Farmington, Hastings, Inver Grove Heights, Mendota Heights, Rosemount, South St. Paul and West St. Paul police departments.

The system is expected to go live in early 2026.

Currently, police departments can have different and sometimes outdated record systems from one another, causing difficulty when researching a possible emergency call in the field. It can allow agencies to be unaware of a person’s background or history when responding to a call.

In the office, it can cause situations where data is entered twice or in hard to find fields.

Rosemount Police Chief Mikael Dahlstrom theorized that officers want to have as much information as possible when responding to an emergency call. For example, he said, as an officer responds to an emergency, having the background of the people involved is vital to the officer’s response.

The system can also allow the county attorney’s office to receive the information, Criminal Justice Network Executive Director Mary Cerkvenik said, giving all areas of law enforcement real-time data.

“This is a game changer,” Cerkvenik said.

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MILWAUKEE — In the early days of this season, the Twins have twice participated in other team’s Opening Days. On Thursday, it’s their turn.

After beginning their season with series in Kansas City and Milwaukee, the Twins will return home to Target Field on Thursday for an all-day celebration, beginning with Breakfast on the Plaza from 6–9 a.m. outside of the ballpark.

Gates to the ballpark will be opened at 1 p.m. ahead of the 3:10 p.m. game, and Twins legends — including Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Justin Morneau, Tom Kelly and Dan Gladden — will open the gates to the ballpark. The first 10,000 fans in will receive a giveaway beanie.

The Twins will then honor the 40-year career of longtime broadcaster Dick Bremer, who stepped aside after last season. They will dedicate the space that Bremer called home for years as the “Dick Bremer Broadcast Booth,” and then he will later take the field, alongside his family, and throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

The team also will honor Burnsville and Dakota County first responders and recognize Burnsville police officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth, who lost their lives in the line of duty earlier this year.

A flyover from the Minnesota National Guard’s 113rd Airlift Wing will cap off the national anthem, and at 3:10 p.m., Pablo López will throw the first pitch, kicking off the game against the Cleveland Guardians.

During the game, the Twins will unveil the “Countdown to Cooperstown,” which will be changed during the sixth inning of each home game leading up to Joe Mauer’s Hall of Fame induction on July 21.

Earlier this week, the Twins introduced a number of new food offerings that fans can sample for the first time, including smoothies, Union Hmong Kitchen Báhn mì brats, baked potatoes, deep fried Oreos and more.

Correa tweaks routine

Carlos Correa doesn’t remember taking on-field batting practice in 2022. He thinks he didn’t do it once in 2023 either. But the Twins shortstop has decided to switch up his pregame routine this year.

Already, he’s been out on the field hitting at Kauffman Stadium and American Family Field before games in the Twins’ first two series of the year.

It won’t be every day — especially as the season wears on and the Twins fall into a routine of playing every day — but it’s a big switch for Correa, who said the last time he hit outside consistently before games was in 2019.

He stopped then as a result of back issues, which forced him to cut down on the number of swings he was taking, he said.

What are the benefits he’s hoping to get out of it?

“You just see the ball travel, you see the ball coming from the batter’s eye,” Correa said. “Different ballparks, different batter’s eyes, and just go out there with my teammates and just spend time with them.”

Briefly

Alex Kirilloff’s 4-for-4 performance on Wednesday was the first four-hit game of his big-league career. It marked the second time the 26-year-old had reached base five times in his career. … With the win, Rocco Baldelli reached 378 for his managerial career, which ties him with Gene Mauch for fourth on the Twins’ all-time list.

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A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stabbing to death a 30-year-old last summer in a Frogtown home where the pair had been watching TV and drinking beer together.

Alfredo Arturo Alvarez-Flores, 24, of St. Paul, admitted in January to killing Juan Jose Jimenez-Alarcon, also of St. Paul, on June 3 at a home in the 1000 block of Charles Avenue. An autopsy showed Jimenez-Alarcon had six stab wounds to his chest and left arm.

Alfredo Arturo Alvarez-Flores (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Alvarez-Flores had pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree unintentional murder-not premeditated. A second-degree intentional murder charge was dismissed as part of the Jan. 30 plea agreement.

The length of his sentence, handed down Tuesday by Judge John Guthmann, is the top of the state’s guideline range on the charge for someone with no prior criminal history, prosecutors said.

According to the criminal complaint, officers called to the home around 10:30 p.m. found Jimenez-Alarcon sitting on the couch covered in blood. Medics soon pronounced him dead. No weapons were found on or near his body.

A man told officers his friend had been stabbed by Alvarez-Flores, who left on foot. He showed police Alvarez-Flores’ Facebook profile and his white shoes on the front lawn.

He told police he had picked up Alvarez-Flores and brought him to the house to hang out. He said he left and went to a convenience store, then received a call that Alvarez-Flores had stabbed Jimenez-Alarcon.

Another man told police he heard a scream from the living room, and that there had been no arguing or conversation prior to it. He said he left his bedroom and saw Jimenez-Alarcon slumped over on the couch and Alvarez-Flores standing at the front door. He asked Alvarez-Flores what was going on, and Alvarez-Flores said, “Well, that’s because he was threatening me,” the complaint states. Alvarez-Flores ran out of the house.

Jimenez-Alarcon told the man to call an ambulance.

A third man told police Alvarez-Flores and Jimenez-Alarcon had been sitting on the couch and drinking beer and watching TV. He said he was in the bathroom when he heard noises and went to the living room, where he saw Jimenez-Alarcon on the couch and Alvarez-Flores gone.

Officers found Alvarez-Flores passed out in bushes in the backyard of a nearby home. He was arrested and brought to police headquarters, where he asked an officer if he spoke Spanish. After the officer said that he did, Alvarez-Flores said, “I know I did wrong, and I truly confess that I poked the friend,” the complaint states.

Alvarez-Flores, who had dried blood on his right hand and his pants, declined to give investigators a statement.

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