Though the Twin Cities is known to have the largest Somali population in the United States, there is only one Somali officer working in the St. Paul Police Department. But now, as part of a push to diversify its ranks and improve its relations with the minority community, the department is on the verge of graduating its first-ever East African Junior Police Academy class.

Saturday, 30 participants, ranging in age from 14 to 22, will graduate from the program, which met weekly over the past month and which was designed to nurture interest in future police work.

“We got one [officer]. We need more,” Commander Matt Toupal, who has helped run the academy, said about the dearth of Somali officers in the department.

Toupal said the academy gives youth interested in police work a chance to get their feet in the door at the police department. Some have already said that they want to pursue a career in law enforcement, Toupal said.

While there have been other junior police academies in St. Paul, the East African Junior Police Academy is the first targeting that immigrant group. Academy activities somewhat mirror the department’s other citizen academies, allowing participants a behind-the-scenes look at policing to learn everything from defensive tactics to dusting evidence for fingerprints.

“I didn’t want something lame. I wanted this to be hands-on,” Toupal said.

Just having a group of dedicated participants, four of them girls, speaks volumes about the success of the program, Toupal said. The police had to talk to local imams to request that some participants be excused from prayer service so they could attend.

“It’s a community that we need to have good relationships with. This is just another way for us to reach out,” said Howie Padilla, police spokesman.

The police department has recently launched other initiatives to interact with the East African community, including holding its firsthalal cookout last summer and a girls swim group at the downtown YMCA for Somali girls.

“Things are going to change. I think we’re helping to break down some of these barriers,” Toupal said.

The graduation will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday at the police department’s Western District offices at 389 N. Hamline Av., Padilla said.

Source Star Tribune Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495 Twitter: @stribnorfleet

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