Minnesota state records showed there were 350 law enforcement officers assaulted across the state in 2016. By 2023, that number rose to 1,179, and preliminary numbers for January of 2024 showed 94 officers have been assaulted which is on pace to exceed 2023 totals.

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Retired St. Cloud Police Chief, Blair Andersen, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that in his opinion, respect toward police has diminished over the past few years.

“There were people who normally would have complied with us that basically say, ‘Yeah, I am not complying,’” said Andersen. “And, so now we’ve got assaults, we’ve got hands-on, we’ve got all kinds of madness.”

Andersen told KSTP he also believes too many people are being released too soon after they’ve been arrested.

“If we bring people to jail, who should be in jail, and before we can finish filing a report they’re out of jail, what do you want us to do?” Andersen asked.