St. Cloud Police Chief: This Is A Tough And Tense Time Right Now

ST. CLOUD - St. Cloud police chief Blair Anderson says this is a "tough and tense time" right now for police officers.

That's in response to the recent police officer shootings in Baton Rouge and Dallas. However, he says the outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous.

I took phone calls, and got emails, and text messages and visits from people in our community. And, that is critical in a time like this.

Anderson says he made sure he hit every role call immediately following the Dallas shooting.

He says he hasn't changed a whole lot as far as operational protocol. And, they work every day on community relations.

Anderson is in Washington D.C. this week with 3,500 other officers at a convention for law enforcement executives.

Meanwhile, police officers in Minneapolis and St. Paul are being told to remain vigilant after eight officers were killed in shootings in Texas and Louisiana.

In a memo on Sunday, Minneapolis police Chief Janee Harteau directed all officers to ride in pairs until further notice. Her memo was issued after three officers were killed in Baton Rouge.

Harteau also told officers to protect each other, watch for setups and wear their bulletproof vests.

Officers in St. Paul are also patrolling in pairs. St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders tells The Associated Press that this policy was started July 7, the day five officers were killed in Dallas.

Police-community relations have been tense after the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.