Q&A: St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, halfway through his term as ‘factory floor chief’

Axel Henry became St. Paul’s police chief when the murder rate was high for the city and the department was understaffed.

Halfway into his six-year term, violence is down more significantly than what’s been seen nationally. Henry credits a major part of that to the department’s new focused effort on solving nonfatal shootings.

Hiring still hasn’t kept up with the pace of retirements and departures, though the police department has recently held academies twice a year to try to address that.

Henry, a St. Paul officer since 1998, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by rising through the department’s ranks. Before he was appointed chief by Mayor Melvin Carter, he was commander of the narcotics and human trafficking unit.

The St. Paul city charter says police chiefs serve six-yea