The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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    Rep. Tony Cornish

October 26, 2009

Lake Crystal survey finds discontent with cops

Cornish says criticism to be expected

By Dan Nienaber

LAKE CRYSTAL — A survey initiated to see if Lake Crystal residents would support a child care facility also found a fair percentage of people are unhappy with the city’s Police Department.

One of the questions on the survey asked residents to list specific actions they wanted city leaders to take to improve city services. There were 35 responses who said the police force could improve, mostly by being less aggressive with its enforcement. Some of the respondents went further, saying Police Chief Tony Cornish, a Good Thunder resident who also serves as a state representative, should be replaced.

“These residents feel the police force will be better enhanced if a new police chief was hired,” the survey report said in a section explaining the responses.

A total of 1,600 survey forms were sent out to Lake Crystal residents by Organizational Effectiveness Research Group, a consulting organization operated by Minnesota State University’s Industrial/

Organizational Psychology graduate program. Just over 17 percent, or 275 surveys, were returned.

Cornish said he wasn’t surprised the Police Department was singled out for criticism.

“It’s very rare that you skate out without some comments of some type,” he said. “I welcome criticism. I should expect it because I ask people to call me with complaints.

“Since I’ve been chief, though, I haven’t received one signed complaint against an officer. Overall, people have been really good to me. I’ve had lots of good comments.”

Mayor Pat McKinzie said he was hoping the survey, which was funded with help from Agstar Financial Services, would give city council members more guidance on how to make spending decisions. The survey results were presented to council members during a special meeting Monday.

They showed the highest priorities are to improve the quality of the city’s lakes and enhance the downtown business district. In a time of tight budgets, people seem to want to make improvements while paying less in taxes, McKinzie said.

For the most part, the survey also showed people are satisfied with the essential services the city provides, McKinzie said.

Even the Police Department received a “good” rating overall. So he suspect those who singled the department out really don’t want officers to do their job.

“The complaints are that they’re enforcing the law,” he said.

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