I’m attending the Minnesota State Chiefs’ Conference in St. Cloud the first part of this week. The conference is actually called the ETI, Educational Training, Institute, I believe. It’s a bit different in that if focuses on topics and panel discussions that are relevant to public safety and working with communities.
Yesterday WCCO anchor, Don Shelby, spoke about his Peabody Award winning work with Minnesota youth and challenged participants to be more involved in community based programs.
Next a group called Fight Crime, Invest in Kids presented convincing information about why there is a need for preschool and after school care for younger kids as well as a need for strong family support systems. There were personal examples given by Minnesota officers of they positive experiences in working with troubled youth.
The entire afternoon was dedicated to briefings on homeland security and a panel discussion sponsored by Michael Campion, Commissioner of Public Safety on programs and best practices of Minnesota law enforcement agencies to address the growing immigrant population in the state.