In a press released posted to Facebook on Thursday, Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes issued a statement regarding his department's mission in the wake of George Floyd's death by Minneapolis police officers.

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Hughes wrote, "The last 10 days have been very emotional and difficult with the same range of emotions that many of you have been experiencing ... To be asked what we are doing to ensure the safety of all of our community members, especially persons of color, is heartbreaking to me."

Hughes went on to explain that the department has always strived to build relationships with everyone in the community and remain unbiased and neutral.

The police department's mission statement, created in 2016, reads, "Our mission is to provide our community with a professional, progressive, community-oriented police department and to enforce the laws, preserve the peace, reduce fear and provide for a safe environment within our community."

In an effort to embody their mission statement, Hughes says the officers have been involved in several outreach programs, attended trainings for; crisis intervention, mental health crisis, conflict management, mediation and valuing community diversity and cultural differences.

Hundreds of community members have expressed support for the Facebook post which has garnered hundreds of reactions through likes, comments and shares.

Darlene Angst wrote, "Thanks for all you do!"

Tina Schmidt said, "Thank you for this and especially for including training about implicit bias. As a resident of this community for almost 20 years and the parent to three children of color, I would love to see more of this training in our schools. Once again, thank you!!"

Connie Renee penned, "You are a department full of men and women of integrity! I’m proud of you and you KNOW who else is. We are praying for our communities to listen and love each other and I have no doubt that you DO. Thank you for being those kinds of people💙."

 

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