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Tuesday, April 04, 2023

Minneapolis - The City Council unanimously approved police reform and civil rights activists have commented to news outlets about it. Separately, in ACLU litigation settlement, Bob Kroll is restrained for ten years from date of settlement to serve any police function in Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka Counties. Two separate reports, but is there some connection or link?

 Kroll story, this Strib link, with this accompanying Kroll photo:

https://chorus.stimg.co/22510484/merlin_51884005.jpg 

MinnPost notes:

 During traffic stops, officers will be required to give out personal contact information – whether it’s a business card or stating their name and badge number, upon request, say the reason for the stop into their body-worn camera before making the stop and provide a record of the stop to an individual in the form of a document or card with the officer’s last name.

There will be new parameters on which offenses do not merit a stop, like a missing side mirror or one faulty headlight, to limit the use of pretextual stops. Officers are also prohibited from searching a vehicle on the sole basis of smelling marijuana, using “officer safety” as a justification for a frisk or pat down for weapons, and conducting consent searches during traffic stops.

“The court-enforceable agreement does not prohibit officers from relying on reasonable, articulable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity to enforce the law,” Lucero said. “We want officers to do their jobs, we want them to be successful and do them well and that means policing in a non-discriminatory manner.”

In nationwide coverage, Forbes:

 The 144-page settlement, which still requires court approval, contains new policies regarding aggressive police tactics and officer misconduct, including a requirement for officers to intervene if they see another officer breaking the law.

Officers will also no longer be allowed to pull over a driver for simple mechanical issues, like a broken tail light, and they are no longer allowed to search and frisk someone if they smell of marijuana.

Other reforms include new guidelines for the use of body-worn and dashboard cameras, training, how officers respond to mental health and behavioral crises and a requirement for officers to engage with community members “without resorting to the use of force” by using de-escalation tactics.

A plan to revamp the police department will take four years, according to City Attorney Kristyn Anderson, who said an “independent evaluator” and 27 additional full-time employees will be hired to oversee its implementation and monitor compliance.

The decision to reform according to the report; Strib here

Community reaction, Strib here

It seems identifying an officer intereacting with the public is a key aspect of reform; and in addition, other cops would in the future be obligated to tell Kroll to take that fucking tape off his badge number while on duty.