The city of St. Paul is hoping to expand a program to improve safety across the downtown.

In 2021, the St. Paul Downtown Improvement District was launched to keep the area safe and clean.

Organization leaders have seen positive results. Now, they want to use the same methods in other parts of the city.

“Our ambassador teams are out there. They’re on safety patrol. They’re out on bikes,” said Joe Spencer with the St. Paul Downtown Alliance.

You can’t miss them on the streets of St. Paul: The downtown street ambassadors are an extra set of eyes and ears in the city.

“They’re in close partnership with the police and so it’s really a force multiplier for our public safety systems in downtown,” Spencer said.

Right now, the ambassadors only cover the heart of the downtown area.

In the current district, the St. Paul Downtown Alliance saw a 40% drop in lower-level crimes.

This three-year success is driving the organization to expand its reach.

“We feel really confident that we have a program that works,” Spencer said.

The new district would stretch from Xcel Energy Center to CHS Field and from the Mississippi River to Interstate 94.

This would include new areas like Lowertown and all of downtown St. Paul.

“I think it’s great,” Alicia Hinze, The Buttered Tin founder, said.

The Buttered Tin in Lowertown is celebrating 11 years of success in St. Paul.

Hinze explained what goes on outside their restaurant could use some improvement.

“All of the Twin Cities has changed a lot after the pandemic. We see a lot of poverty and a lot of crime,” she said.

Hinze explained enhancing public safety would have a positive domino effect across St. Paul.

“The more safety people feel on the streets, the more people we will see on the streets and that will be better for business, of course,” Hinze said.

Next year, the Downtown Alliance will propose the city of St. Paul hire an attorney to pursue repeat offenders and quality of life issues downtown.

If the St. Paul City Council votes yes to the downtown district expansion proposal, it will go into effect in January 2025.