Amy Brown dabbed at her eyes as she read yet another goodbye e-mail from someone else who will be sorry to see her go.
But, after 34 years of pursuing grant money, starting community outreach programs and helping St. Paul citizens better understand their police department, Brown is retiring. Her last day is Wednesday.
Brown — her name is Amelia Jensen but she still uses her maiden name on the job — has been the go-to go-getter for five chiefs of police, from Richard Rowan to Thomas Smith. The list of her accomplishments and her duties is long.
She started in the department as a temporary clerk/typist and, along the way, she earned a degree from the College of St. Scholastica and attended Northwestern University's School of Staff and Command, earning the trust of police administration. She is in charge of all Data Practices Act requests that come to the department and has led the department's Records Management System project.
Brown played a key role in creating the St. Paul Blueprint for Safety, an interagency effort to combat domestic violence. She is the police department's liaison with the St. Paul City Attorney's Office and serves as civil litigation coordinator.
A recent winner of the department's Civilian of the Year award, Brown oversees the Research and Development Unit to ensure crime statistics are accurate. And, in her current position as Research and Grants Manager, she has helped bring nearly $12 million in outside funding to the department over the past 10 years.
"All these things you have cheerfully accomplished with an invaluable can-do attitude," Chief Smith wrote her when he gave her the Chief's Award in October.
On Tuesday, he said in an e-mail: "Amy's work has helped the department become the best for the citizens of St. Paul. It's also played an important role in helping the community trust law enforcement and to see the good that officers bring to the city."
