After St. Paul police officer Dave Longbehn nearly lost his life during a fight with a man who had already killed another cop, he asked his then-17-year-old son if he was sure he wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“It was a week after I got out of the hospital, and my face was all beaten, I was swollen, and black and blue and the whites of my eyes were all bloody,” Longbehn said, recounting the 2010 incident. “I said, ‘Are you sure this is something you want to do? Look at me. Look at what I went through. Maplewood Sgt. (Joe) Bergeron was killed. I was beaten and, by the grace of God, I’m here.’ ”
Dave Longbehn Jr., who had wanted to become a St. Paul officer since he was in elementary school, was more resolute than ever.
On Thursday night, he joined his dad as a St. Paul police officer. The 24-year-old was among the 34 who graduated from the city’s police academy.
The new officers completed a 17-week academy and will begin patrolling St. Paul’s streets on Saturday. They will be paired with veteran cops for field training for 16 weeks.
Fifty-six percent of the new officers are people of color, which Police Chief Todd Axtell said is among the most diverse class in the department’s history. Axtell became chief in June and has said one of his main priorities is further diversifying the department. The 31 men and three women are the first new officers Axtell has hired.
Not including the new batch, 25 percent of St. Paul officers are people of color, compared to about half of St. Paul residents. The new officers bring the department’s ranks to 620.
The last group of new officers in St. Paul graduated from the police academy in February. While nearly half were minorities, none was African-American. The class that graduated Thursday includes seven black men. There are also eight Asians, three Hispanics and one American Indian.
The new officers hail from eight countries and speak 11 languages, according to the police department. They’ve gone through physical tests and scenario-based exercises to prepare for the job.
“The recruits have worked hard to demonstrate their knowledge and skills,” Axtell said. “But they also showed that they share the values required to serve our community — exceptional character, an unwavering commitment to doing what’s right and a desire to help people in need.”
At the Thursday night ceremony at Harding High School, Longbehn proudly pinned his own badge on his son. Longbehn, who’s been a St. Paul officer for 32 years, has a new badge.
In 2010, Longbehn was injured during the manhunt for Bergeron’s killer, Jason John Jones. Longbehn shot and killed Jones.
As Longbehn was recovering, his son told him it was the show of support from fellow officers that made him sure he wanted to become a St. Paul officer.
“It really showed us the true meaning of family,” the younger Longbehn said of all the people who came to their home after his father was attacked. “… It’s a strong family tradition to not just become any officer, but to become a St. Paul officer.”
The junior Longbehn graduated from Inver Hills Community College with an associate’s degree in law enforcement and has been a St. Paul parking enforcement officer for four years.
The elder Longbehn said he knows his son is well prepared, but their job always brings a degree of stress.
“You worry about how your day is going to go, how your day is going to end and the encounters you may have,” he said. “I think it’s always in the back of your mind or the back of your family’s mind, but I also know the training I’ve received from the police department over the years is really what kept me alive and kept me fighting through the encounter (in 2010). I feel good that David and the rest of the class have gone through an academy that … taught them to handle just about anything that comes their way.”
ST. PAUL’S NEW OFFICERS, AT A GLANCE
- The recruits spent 680 hours in the department’s academy and volunteered a combined 133 hours at community events.
- In addition to hailing from the United States, they come from Honduras, Cambodia, France, Somalia, Ethiopia, Laos and the Philippines.
- Some speak a second language, including Hmong, Spanish, Khmer, French, American Sign Language, Tagalog, Visayan, Oromo, Somali and Swahili.
- 31 are males and 3 are females.
- 15 are white.
- 8 are Asian.
- 7 are black.
- 3 are Hispanic.
- 1 is American Indian.
