If you listen to the major news networks and even some of the Minneapolis TV stations, you may get the sense that relations between law enforcement and the people they protect are at an all-time low.
I find this theory to be horribly wrong. Recent surveys have shown a high degree of respect and confidence in law enforcement nationally and within individual states.
Despite this, a false narrative exists that police officers and the public are not getting along.
Almost without exception, any problems you hear about are in large Metro areas - which doesn’t come close to meeting the perceived “statewide” problem that some with an ax to grind want you to believe.
As chairman of the Minnesota House Public Safety and Security Policy and Finance Committee, I have already begun to hear about bill requests that may be coming forward on behalf of certain advisory groups to address the alleged police/public relationship issues.
For example, there’s talk of creating a Civilian Authority board that would be called upon to make findings of fact in any police discipline case, or to be responsible for issuing discipline in any instance where peace officer wrongdoing has been discovered.
Another good one is mandating that a peace officer use his taser before lethal force, which might be problematic if the officer is being shot at by someone using a high powered rifle from 100 yards away.
To be clear, the House public safety committee is not going to consider any out-of-this-world proposals over the next two years. I simply do not believe in managing local police departments through legislative policy.
That said, I have no problem with funding more training programs for police. I believe the state should be giving police departments help for crisis intervention training, particularly for mentally distraught or suicidal individuals. Otherwise I’m a strong proponent of local control and allowing agencies to handle their problems without legislative intervention, as a statewide policy that’s mainly directed at an inner city police department could likely have serious consequences on officers in Waseca or St. James.