Interview with Todd Axtell, contender for St. Paul Police Chief

Current St Paul Chief Harrington is not going to renew his term, so St Paul has started the process of selecting a new police chief. Since St Paul is a leader in community partnered policing and since the police department has an active policy of growing great candidates from within, an internal candidate is expected to be chosen.

The selection process starts with two community meetings of input to an already selected 22 person interview team, who then recommends five choices to Mayor Coleman.  Mayor Coleman chooses the final candidate. Since the role of police chief is very demanding, there are a large number of family conversations happening now among potential candidates. Maria Gottfried from the Pioneer Press has the best list so far of potential Candidates.  She writes:

"Names of contenders that have been bandied around City Hall include Assistant Chief Thomas Smith, Senior Cmdr. Colleen Luna, Senior Cmdr. Bill Martinez and Cmdr. Todd Axtell."

Video and editing by Grace Kelly.