BCA releases first no-knock warrant report

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has released its first no-knock search warrant annual report.

Since the law requiring the report went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, the first report covers only the final four months of last year.

The report looks at the number of no-knock search warrants requested, issued and executed, as well as if any injuries occurred during their execution. No-knock warrants are supposed to allow law enforcement to execute a warrant without prior notice if there is an investigative or safety reason necessitating that.

According to the report, 132 warrants were requested from Sept. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021. Of those, 129 were granted and 105 were executed.

5 INVESTIGATES reported back in February that judges overwhelmingly approved no-knock warrant requests last year.

RELATED: State data shows how often judges approved no-knock warrants

Minneapolis police led the way in those categories, requesting 44 and executing 33 of the 43 that were granted. The department with the next-highest total in each category was the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which requested 16 no-knock warrants, had 15 granted and executed 12.

More than half of the warrants sought by Minneapolis police were related to weapons violations while seven were for aggravated assault. Only two were for murder or manslaughter investigations. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office requested seven no-knock warrants each for weapons offenses and drug investigations.

The BCA’s report also looks at the age, gender and race of the subjects of no-knock warrants. Of the 187 subjects, 132 were male and 53 were female. Meanwhile, 41 of the male subjects were between 18 and 24 years old, 38 were between 25 and 34 and 28 were 35-49 years of age. More than one-third of the female subjects (19) were between 25 and 34 years of age while 10 were in each of the 18-24 and 35-49 age ranges.

Nearly half of the subjects were Black, particularly the younger subjects. In fact, 23 of the 24 subjects under 18 were Black, as were 37 of the 53 subjects in the 18-24 age range and 32 of the 57 subjects ages 25-34. Another 42 subjects were white, 17 were American Indian or Alaskan Native, two were Asian and nine were listed as “unknown race.”

Additionally, only four subjects of no-knock warrants resisted police, the report states — one each in Austin, Douglas County, Edina and St. Paul. Only the subject in Austin was injured and none were killed.

To see the BCA’s full report, click here.