Minneapolis prosecutor and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has urged state lawmakers to adopt eight major changes to policing in Minnesota, including limiting the use of no-knock warrants and prohibiting traffic stops for non-safety-related infractions.
Among Freeman’s proposals are fully funding the criminal division of the Attorney General’s office, limiting the use of no-knock warrants, modernizing police training, and prohibiting traffic stops for non-safety-related infractions.
The issue of police traffic stops has come into the spotlight more forcefully since a police officer fatally shot a man during a traffic stop last month.
Potter believed she was firing the Taser she also had on her, former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon told reporters in a briefing.
Many of Freeman’s proposals are contained in a $2.7 billion omnibus public safety bill that focuses on police reform, which passed both the state House and Senate in mid April and is now in conference committee to work out the differences.
“This bill makes systemic changes to reduce bias inherent in our current systems,” added Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, of the DFL party.
One provision of the bill would limit police officers’ authority to stop or detain drivers solely for minor motor vehicle equipment violations, like having expired license tabs or a broken turn signal.
Rep. John Petersburg, a Republican, unsuccessfully sought to have the provision deleted, arguing that it would threaten public safety as it asks police officers to “look the other way” when seeing vehicle violations.
The traffic stop prohibitions would not apply to commercial vehicles and would not prevent officers from stopping a motorist operating a vehicle under evidently dangerous conditions, such as with a shattered windshield that obstructed visibility.
Gazelka later said that he supports a “pattern and practice” review of the Minneapolis Police Department, something Freeman called for in his letter.
“We also believe that law enforcement leadership as well as civic leadership needs to be held accountable for the actions of the rank and file. The entire department should be reviewed, from the beat cop all the way up to leaders at city hall,” he added.
In his letter, Freeman called for more funding for the Attorney General’s Office criminal division to assist counties in officer-involved use of deadly force cases, while seeking to prohibit the use of no-knock warrants for drug crimes and limiting their use to only “the most serious crimes.”
He also called for engagement with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Investigation unit to “fully disclose the patterns and practices of the Minneapolis Police Department and adopt reforms resulting from the investigation.”
Freeman also made an appeal to modernize training, including “additional training on racial profiling, implicit bias, and the duty to intervene when another officer uses excessive force.”
“We support these initiatives as the package that we think is the best combination of tools on the table for police reform. Will it perfect the use of force in policing? No. Will it substantially improve careful use of force in policing? Without a doubt,” Freeman said.
His letter came on the same day that Hennepin County public defenders, joined by a state legislator, rallied in downtown Minneapolis to condemn the alleged disproportionate number of black drivers stopped for minor infractions compared to white motorists.
