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S.F. No. 466 - Peace Officer-Involved Deaths Investigation Policy Requirement
 
Author: Senator Ron Latz
 
Prepared By: Chris Turner, Senate Fiscal Analyst (651/296-4350)
 
Date: February 23, 2015



 

Section 1, subdivision 1 defines “officer-involved death” for the purposes of the bill.

Subdivision 2 requires the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board, in consultation with the Minnesota Chiefs of Police, the Minnesota Sheriffs' Association, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the State Patrol, to adopt and disseminate a model policy governing the investigation of officer-involved deaths.  The policy must at a minimum: 

  • require that investigations be conducted by at least two investigators, neither of whom are employed by the agency involved in the incident;
  • require that if the death is traffic-related, the investigation must include a crash reconstruction unit from an agency not involved in the incident, with the exception of state law enforcement agencies, which may use their own resources;
  • require the investigators to provide a complete report to the county attorney of the county in which the incident occurred; and
  • authorize that internal investigations into officer-involved deaths may be completed by the agency involved in the death if the internal investigation does not interfere with an outside investigation conducted under this subdivision.

The board shall seek and consider comments of members of the public when adopting the model policy.

 Subdivision 3 requires the chief law enforcement officer of every state and local law enforcement agency to establish and enforce a written policy governing the investigation of officer-related deaths that is identical or substantially similar to the model policy adopted by the board.  Every law enforcement agency must certify annually to the board that it has adopted a written policy in compliance with the board’s model policy.

 Subdivision 4 provides that if the county attorney determines there is no basis to prosecute the peace officer involved in the officer-related death, the attorney shall inform the investigators who conducted the investigation of this determination and the investigators shall release the report to the public. 

Section 2 requires the POST Board to adopt the model policy by October 1, 2015, and chief law enforcement officers to adopt the policy by January 15, 2016.

 

 

 
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