28.2 F
Saint Paul
Thursday, March 28, 2024

As archdiocese’s safe environment deputy takes national AMBER Alert role, former St. Paul Police community affairs chief steps in

Janell Rasmussen

Janell Rasmussen remembers a press conference held by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi several years ago. As the deputy director of the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, she stood on one side of Choi’s podium with other representatives of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to address clergy sexual abuse.

On the opposite side stood law enforcement officers. Among them was Paul Iovino of the St. Paul Police Department. Little did Rasmussen and Iovino know then that they would someday work on the same team.

Thanks to some big moves in December, they will now serve together in the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. Rasmussen is leaving her full-time position but staying on part time, while Iovino comes in as her replacement. Rasmussen, who joined the archdiocese in 2016, was hired last month as the national AMBER Alert administrator, replacing Jim Walters, who is retiring. She will start full-time in that position in March.

After Rasmussen, Iovino’s longtime friend, told him about the job opening, he decided to pursue the position. Both have had long careers in law enforcement. Most of Rasmussen’s 20 years have been with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Iovino has spent 25 years with the St. Paul Police Department.

Paul Iovino

The two illustrate how the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment has functioned since its creation in 2014 with the hiring of Director Tim O’Malley, former head of the BCA and state administrative law judge. He has built a staff filled with law enforcement specialists, some of whom are former colleagues and others known experts in the field.

They work together to investigate claims of clergy sexual abuse, and they have forged relationships with victim-survivors, other law enforcement professionals and even Choi, who now praises the work the archdiocese has done since 2015. Six years ago, he filed charges against it in the case of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, alleging that the archdiocese had failed to protect children from his abuse. Its settlement led to Ramsey County overseeing institutional changes in the archdiocese. That process formally ended in January 2020.

- Advertisement -

“I continue to have confidence in the work that the archdiocese is doing,” Choi said. “There’s been dramatic improvement.”

Part of that comes from Rasmussen, a mother of two who has a passion for protecting children. In addition to helping develop safe environment protocols for parishes and schools, she has met with victim-survivors and their families to hear their stories firsthand. These encounters continue to fuel her drive to keep kids safe.

Rasmussen first got involved in the AMBER Alert program almost 20 years ago while working for the BCA, helping launch a program in Minnesota in 2002 and serving as state coordinator. AMBER Alert (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) was created after the 1996 abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas. The child abduction alert system asks the public for help in finding abducted children, using radio and TV stations, social media and text messages. Recently, the 1,000th child nationally was found via AMBER Alert, Rasmussen noted.

Although she sees her new position as a way to move the program forward, including to other countries, she has mixed feelings about the change.

“I really do enjoy my work here at the archdiocese,” said Rasmussen, 45, who lives near Ellsworth, Wisconsin. “The people here are just absolutely phenomenal. But, the work (of AMBER Alert) is also very important. And so, I thought it through, talked a little bit with Jim (Walters) … and some of the folks in the program, and just decided that this would probably be a really good move.”

Walters told her that there’s no one else in the country that they would want running the AMBER Alert program nationally, she said, which meant a great deal to her because of how long she’s been advocating for the program.

“To be able to serve in this role, to work for kids like this, to have this broad impact throughout the United States, means a lot to me,” she said.

It means something to others, too, including Patty Wetterling, whose son Jacob was abducted and murdered near St. Joseph, Minnesota, in 1989. Wetterling, a longtime child advocate, has worked alongside Rasmussen throughout the years, and said Rasmussen has what it takes to keep the AMBER Alert program going strong.

“I’ve seen her in a lot of different venues, and she’s just so competent and calm and compassionate,” said Wetterling, who recently worked with Rasmussen as a member of the archdiocesan Ministerial Review Board. She joined the board, in part, because of Rasmussen. “I can’t think of enough good adjectives (to describe her). She’s just an amazing human being. So, I’m excited for her and I’m excited for the AMBER plan. They’re getting a golden person.”

Rasmussen had similar words of praise for Iovino, whom she’s known since they both worked in campus security at the University of St. Thomas in the 1990s. When she decided to take the AMBER Alert position, she immediately recruited Iovino for her job at the archdiocese.

“There is no better fit than Paul for this position,” she said. “He is going to be absolutely wonderful in this role. He is an excellent leader. He has done work with victims in the past. And, he knows exactly the importance of that work. … That made it a lot easier to be able to take this (AMBER Alert) position, knowing that there was somebody that can come on, that has that same level of commitment and really, really wants to see the archdiocese in a really, really good place.”

Iovino is retiring from the St. Paul Police Department and his current role as community affairs chief. He started working for the department in 1995, first as a patrol officer for four years, then in numerous leadership roles. One of his jobs was commander of the Juvenile Unit/Missing Persons Unit from 2006 to 2008, which brought him into contact with abuse victims and their families.

“I’ve had a blessed career with the City of St. Paul and serving the community there,” said Iovino, 50, who is married with three children and belongs to St. Ambrose in Woodbury. “And, I’ve loved every moment of it. Truthfully, it’s been just a wonderful career for me. And, I believe it was a calling for me to serve in that capacity.”

And, the chance to work for the archdiocese was “like a second calling,” he said.

“The thought of working at the archdiocese, working for this archbishop (Bernard Hebda) in … Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment was absolutely just a wonderful opportunity I wanted to make sure that I did not pass up,” he said.

Iovino and Rasmussen both said they are glad to be part of an organization that puts so much effort into protecting children, and one that has made great strides in recent years.

“The people … are doing it right,” Choi said. “With Tim staying there, and Janell having some continued role, and also now bringing in Paul Iovino, I think that’s really great. It’s just the right step, for sure.”

 


Related Articles

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Trending

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
12,743FansLike
1,478FollowersFollow
6,479FollowersFollow
35,922FollowersFollow
583SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -