Police union apologizes for St. Paul campaign spat

The word war between the campaign of St. Paul mayoral candidate Melvin Carter III and the city’s police union took its predictable next step Wednesday after the police union federation’s vice president made a campaign issue out of a break-in at Carter’s Summit-University home.

The police federation asked why guns that were stolen weren’t properly secured, why ammunition was stored and why Carter waited 50 minutes to call the cops.

Keep in mind here that Carter was the victim of a robbery crime.

“The letter we received from the St. Paul Police Federation demonstrates the way people of color are presumed guilty by police every day in our city,” Carter campaign manager Emily Weber wrote in response. “The idea that a victim of a crime could become the accused based solely on the color of their skin is exactly why police culture needs to change, and it’s why our campaign has proposed a police reform plan to rebuild trust in our community. This shameful attack exemplifies why that reform is so critical.”

In the last day or so, social media has lit up with a pushback against mixing policing and politics.

Today, the police union responded again, taking umbrage at being called racist, but apologizing for the letter that started the brouhaha.

“Melvin Carter’s campaign has asserted that the amazing men and women of the Saint Paul police department are racists. This is something we categorically deny and find offensive. The intent of our letter yesterday was in no way to revictimize the Carter family and for that we apologize,” Dave Titus, the president of the police federation said in an emailed statement.