St. Joseph Police Department

Community policing is the organizing idea of the St. Joseph Police Department in Stearns County, Minnesota, which treats it as a value system: officers work with individual residents, neighborhood groups and public and private organizations to spot and solve problems that affect how livable a block, an area or the whole city feels. Police cannot fix those issues alone, the department says, so it shares the job with partners and puts weight on preventing trouble, catching it early and stepping in quickly before small concerns grow. Officers act as general-purpose problem solvers who bring together government and private resources, and they are urged to spend real time getting to know neighbors, shop owners, teachers and local groups. Its mission is a safe city where families and businesses thrive, with protection at all hours. The department pledges that deaf and hard-of-hearing people can fully use its services, providing communication aids free of charge through a designated coordinator. Local animal rules bar dogs from running at large, require a collar with identification, limit each residence to two licensed dogs and require owners to clean up after their pets and keep rabies verification on hand.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 2023), St. Joseph city, MN has an estimated population of 7,024.