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rT\~ d-.) J ;f.VO/" George Fairbanks news editor As the students in Pam Kit- tridge's "Street Law" class came shuffling into the room, they had the classic, bored look of teenagers. They whispered to each other and cracked quiet jokes, making it clear they wanted to be anywhere but in a classroom on a warm, sunny Thursday afternoon in May. Those attitudes changed mere minutes into the remarks by former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney, who shared stories from his long public service career and tips on how today's youth should interact with local law enforcement. Finney was at Roseville Area High School at the behest of Janet Delmore, chair of the . Roseville Human Rights Com- mission. Delmore said she sug- gested Finney because he "con- nects well with young people." An East Side resident and a former merilber of the St. Paul School Board, Finney plans to make a bid for sheriff of Ram- sey County later this year. Finney began his remarks by telling the students that police officers are trained to notice things out of the ordinary, whether its loud music or peo- ple behaving oddly. He also spent several min- utes telling the teens about traf- fic stops. Finney urged the stu- dents to make sure they're driving attentively, obeying traffic laws and behaving responsibly. And if they are pulled over? "One of the things you don't want to do is verbally challenge a cop," Finney noted. "That is not the time to become a lawyer. " The students were surprised to learn that a great number of cops patrolling the streets m:e just a few years older than high . scho,ol juniors and seniors. Older cops, Finney noted, are often working behind desks, while the younger, more agile cops are assigned to squad cars because they are better able to handle situations in a physical Linda E. Andersen/Review During Roseville Area High School's street law class on May 18 former St. Paul Police Chief William Finney sp.,oke to 10-12 grade students about human rights and the law. manner if need be. Finney further explained police officers are often step- ping into the unknown when they approach a vehicle during traffic stops. "Keep your hands where he can see them," Finney said. "You don't see what he sees as he's approaching the vehicle." Officers know, Finney said, that danger can lurk in even the most harmless looking places. "Police officers are not immortal, they can be killed," he said. Friends, Finney added, can often get a driver in trouble. He told the students to control their passengers, "I can't emphasize that enough," he added. Don't allow passengers to make hand gestures, crank up the stereo or make comments, Finney said, adding disrespect is a sure way to antagonize a situation. "We call it 'contempt by cop;" Finney said. Becoming a cop Finney recalled the events that led him to law enforce- ment. During the 1960s, at the height of the Vietnam War, he was a student at Mankato State University. Like many of his peers, he was bitterly opposed to the war, and he organized and par- ticipated in anti-war demon- strations, which usually drew a police presence. "The police, we felt, were Neanderthals," he quipped. Finney and other organizers met with Mankato police and went through the reasons they were unhappy with the depart- ment's monitoring of their activities and police in general. Eventually, a Mankato officer challenged Finney to become a police officer himself to "change things from the inside. " He did just that, becoming a Mankato officer before joining the St. Paul Police Department in the early 1970s. For Finney, the lesson he learned from self-professed "student radical" to chief of police, is simple. "You cap, l11ake change," he said. The class was filled with a mix of boys and girls from a variety of backgrounds and was a typical reflection of the diversity at RAHS. Finney told the students law enforcement is open to all of them, regardless of race, a cul- tural shift he personally wit- nessed in the past decade. He also reminded the young women in the room police work is as open to them as it is to men. Giving and getting respect While Finney told the stu- dents they should respect law enforcement, he also made it clear to them they are entitled to respect as well. Most police chiefs, he said, don't want their officers behaving disrespect- fully to anyone in the commu- nity. One student asked Finney how complaints about officers are investigated. He responded most big police forces, like St. Paul and Minneapolis, have Internal Affairs divisions whose sole function is to inves- tigate police officers. Finney said while it's diffi- cult to make a decision on a cha~~e. be9al1sewwplainants often don't have witnesses to verify their accounts, patterns can be determined. He Tues explained that if, as chief, he saw complaints by several young men of color without witnesses, against one particu- lar officer, he might be more inclined to believe. the allega- tionS. "You have the right and dig- . nity to be left alone by the police, too," he said. An,other student asked Finney if he had encountered "crooked cops" during his career. He replied that he had. "Police officers don:t have any special privileges to prf(ak the law,"Finney said, adding his opinion they should hold themselves to an,. even higher standard than a civilian. Ultimately, Finney said, police officers aren't overly eager to slap the cuffs on peo- ple. "Police don't want to arrest you, police want to restore the peace," he explained. "We pro- mote and maintain public safety. When you can't call anyone else,. YOll call the police. " ... ~'-- "/