Neighboring state law enforcement agencies no longer assisting several Minnesota cities

Law enforcement agencies in North Dakota and Wisconsin are no longer crossing the border to assist Stillwater, Duluth and Moorhead police, according to the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

The Minnesota Legislature passed a sweeping police reform bill in July 2020 which included new language covering the use of deadly force. Those changes went into effect March 1.

But, law enforcement agencies in Fargo, Hudson, and Superior have expressed legal concerns about some of the language in the new Minnesota law and decided to no longer provide mutual aid in Minnesota until they get clarification on what liability they might have under Minnesota’s new statute.

"There’s been a complete suspension of any operations that would bring North Dakota authorities into Minnesota, so they’re not coming here," Moorhead Police Chief Shannon Monroe said

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Stillwater Police Chief Brian Mueller told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS law enforcement agencies in Minnesota share some of the same concerns as their counterparts in North Dakota and Wisconsin.

"They’re asking for specificity on what we see," Mueller said. "And so no longer, it’s our understanding, no longer can it be that we feel there is a deadly threat. We have (to) be very specific. Our officers need to be very specific in terms of what that threat is, and these are incidents that are happening in milliseconds."

"They’re asking for specificity on what we see when deadly force is used," Mueller said. "So, it’s our understanding that no longer can we feel there is a deadly threat, we have to be very specific. Our officers need to be very specific in terms of what (a) threat is, and these incidents that are happening sometimes in a split-second."

Monroe and Mueller also said law enforcement agencies in Minnesota have not had enough time to properly train their officers on the new rules because they’ve been separated due to COVID-19 restrictions. They are seeking a delay in the effective date of the new law until Sept. 1.

State Representative Carlos Mariani, DFL-St. Paul, authored the bill that is now law. He told KSTP law enforcement agencies agreed with the original language of the final bill and signed off on it, including the use of the language "specificity" when recounting why an officer used deadly force.

"They supported it very specifically to the circumstance of deadly force," Mariani said. "I am not an attorney, but all it says is that officers need to be able to articulate a reason for why they used deadly force."

And, Mariani agreed, law enforcement does need additional time to train officers to understand the new law because COVID-19 restrictions delayed the opportunity to provide such training.

"I do understand that and agree with what they are saying about additional time to train," Mariani said. "We need to make sure they’re trained for this, and that is going to take some time. And we want the officers to understand the changes and then own them."

A bill to push the effective date of the new law to Sept. 1 has passed the Minnesota Senate and is now in the House of Representatives.