St. Paul cyberattack: How it's impacting the police department

St. Paul police, fire departments address cyberattack [RAW]

The St. Paul Police Department and the St. Paul Fire Department assured the public that 911 services are uninterrupted and that the city has developed "workarounds" for departments impacted by the hack.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A cyberattack on the City of St. Paul has impacted many city services, but Police Chief Axel Henry says the department has implemented workarounds so the "public doesn't suffer." 

Chief Henry held a news conference at 4 p.m. related to the digital security incident. Raw footage of that news conference can be viewed above.  

Authorities reiterated during the news conference that no emergency services, such as 911 dispatch, will be disrupted by the hack. 

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St. Paul cyberattack: What we know

Local perspective:

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter issued a state of emergency, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard after a "deliberate, coordinated digital attack" on the City of St. Paul's information infrastructure, Carter said Tuesday. 

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The city shutdown their information systems as a defensive measure to contain the threat. This resulted in the internet being down in city buildings, the St. Paul library’s collection management systems are down, as is network access for internal applications. Carter said these were intentional, proactive decisions taken to isolate and secure city systems.

St. Paul cyberattack: What we know so far [RAW]

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Mayor Carter says St. Paul’s emergency services and 911 operations center remain intact. Libraries are still open, recreation centers remain open, but wireless internet in those buildings has been temporarily shut off. 

St. Paul Police Department ‘still running smoothly’

What they're saying:

Chief Henry, in a statement shared on social media on Wednesday, reassured residents that the police department is "still running smoothly and that we are committed to making sure our fellow community members don't experience any loss of service as the city navigates this issue." 

People in St. Paul can continue to call 911 or the non-emergency number (651-291-1111) and the phones will be answered and responded to. Henry is asking people to continue to report crimes, call for service and engage with the police department as they normally would. 

"We have already identified and implemented workarounds for most of our public-facing systems to ensure the public doesn't suffer during this recovery period," Henry said. 

However, some things may take the department more time. Henry said, "We are asking for a little patience in areas where our internal access issues might impact our ability to respond as quickly as we'd like to. This would be in areas such as data requests, evidence returns, and other non-emergency response issues."

Henry said the police department has created solutions to upload body-worn camera footage and take tele-serve reports remotely, among other things.

"Technology helps create efficiencies which we all rely on. When these systems are shut down, they can impact things we have come to take for granted," Henry said. "Our hope is that while our internal work will obviously require new ingenuity and effort until our systems are restored, the public will never notice a difference in the service they receive."

Minnesota National Guard activated after St. Paul cyberattack

Dig deeper:

Carter said because the scope of the incident exceeds what the city can handle, they’ve asked for assistance from local, state and federal officials, including the FBI and the Minnesota National Guard.

Gov. Walz on Tuesday activated the National Guard’s cyber protection support immediately.

"We are committed to working alongside the City of Saint Paul to restore cybersecurity as quickly as possible," said Gov. Walz. "The Minnesota National Guard’s cyber forces will collaborate with city, state, and federal officials to resolve the situation and mitigate lasting impacts. Above all, we are committed to protecting the safety and security of the people of Saint Paul."