Minn. Agency Swears In First Somali-Born Recruit

Garaad Sahal waited to tell his mother that he's becoming a police officer.

He worried about her reaction because where Sahal and his family are from, Somalia and Kenya, police officers are often feared. As Sahal becomes the St. Paul Police Department's first Somali officer, he hopes to bridge the gap between his community and police.

"Seeing our family and our friends being helpless with law enforcement back home, I wanted to do something to help people—so they know it's not the same as the way we went through back home," said Sahal, who graduates from the police academy Thursday, Oct. 4.

Read the full Pioneer Press story.