Excellence and integrity are part of the State Patrol's five core values, which are: respect, integrity, courage, honor and excellence. It is extremely important for members of the State Patrol to follow these values as they interact with the public on a daily basis. We strive for excellence in all that we do through the development of forward-thinking leadership, technology, innovation and a quality workforce. In this section, you will see some of the great work done by the State Patrol. You will also see that we hold ourselves accountable to our core values.
Awards
The Minnesota State Patrol believes in officially recognizing the exceptional deeds and services performed by our employees, as well as individuals outside of the organization.
Here are the total number of awards given:
Award Descriptions
Valor Award: The Valor Award is bestowed upon an employee for a conspicuous act of heroism calling for an outstanding degree of dedication and devotion above and beyond professional duty that involved an imminent and undisputable risk of loss of life to the member.
Meritorious Service: To qualify for this award, the incident must involve great personal risk posing hazards that could lead to serious injury or loss of life to the employee.
Life Saving: This recognition will be awarded to employees who perform life-saving acts through physical contact with the victim(s) under conditions wherein no unusual hazard exists to the employee involved.
Purple Heart: This recognition may be awarded to employees of the State Patrol seriously injured or killed from acts of aggression or assaults upon them while performing job-related duties.
Meritorious Citizenship: This recognition may be presented to individuals, other than State Patrol employees, and outside organizations that have assisted the State Patrol in providing a significant service to the public. An organization may be eligible when the organization as a group qualified for the award.
Minnesota State Patrol Commendation: This award is presented to a member(s) of another law enforcement or emergency service agency who has assisted the State Patrol in providing a significant service.
Exceptional Service: This award is presented to members who have provided extraordinary service in one or more instances.
Chief's Commendation: This award (certificate) may be presented to employees who achieve a superior level of proficiency in law enforcement.
Eagle Squadron Award: This award is presented to the State Patrol trooper who arrested the greatest number of impaired drivers the previous year.
Leadership Award: This award is available to any employee to recognize a person who consistently exhibits outstanding leadership and excellence in public safety through their personal actions, guidance, direction and professional involvement.
Employee of the Year Award: This award is presented to the non-sworn employee who best demonstrates outstanding work performance, initiative, leadership and effective interpersonal relations.
Trooper of the Year Award: This award is presented to the trooper who best demonstrates outstanding work performance, initiative, leadership and effective interpersonal relations.
Integrity
As result of our agency's commitment to our core values, we have a very low occurrence of both external and internal complaints, depicted in the graph below.
The State Patrol takes complaints made against members of our agency seriously. All complaints alleging serious misconduct, like harassment, discrimination, excessive use of force, or violations of First Amendment rights, are handled by DPS' Internal Affairs/Affirmative Action (“IA/AA") division. This division is independent of the State Patrol and reports directly to the Commissioner's Office.
The following data shows the complaints handled by IA/AA and the investigatory outcomes.
Provide Feedback
We are always looking to learn and grow — and your feedback helps us do that. Please let us know if you have a specific compliment or a complaint by selecting the links below.
