Minnesota House passes bill aimed at clarifying police force use in schools

Alex Derosier, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read
4

After weeks of committee hearings and compromises, the Minnesota House on Monday passed a bill aimed at clarifying the kinds of force police officers can use on students in schools.

Lawmakers have been working since the beginning of the legislative session on Feb. 12 to address law enforcement concerns about a 2023 state law that put new restrictions on officers’ use of prone restraints on students in schools by including them in the list of school employees prohibited from using that kind of hold.

At the beginning of the school year, more than 40 law enforcement agencies withdrew school resource officers in response to the law.

While Attorney General Keith Ellison in September issued guidance that addressed the concerns of most law enforcement agencies, Republicans pushed on majority Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers to tweak the law to clear up any potential confusion.

‘Model policy’

The result is a bill that allows the use of prone restraints on students, but only in situations where there is a risk of death or serious harm. The state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Board will have to develop a new “model policy” for school resource officers by the end of the year, with input from schools and community organizations.

“We need to focus on our kids and worry about making sure they are OK. That is what this bill is about,” said Rep. Cedrick Frazier, a DFLer from New Hope who sponsored the bill in the House. “It creates a framework for the entire state now. There’ll be transparency. There’ll be accountability, if necessary.”

The bill passed 124-8, with Democrats making up all the no votes. Its next stop is the Senate, and then the desk of DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who said he supports the bill.

The bill’s passage in the House comes after DFL lawmakers accepted their GOP colleagues’ suggestions for the bill, which were aimed at pleasing law enforcement groups. That included new language to preserve peace officers’ discretion in using force if the “model policy” contradicts their duty to protect the public as a whole.

Bipartisan talks

Those bipartisan talks started happening after it became apparent some progressive members of the House DFL Caucus might not back the bill. DFLers have 70 seats in the House and Republicans currently have 63. With no GOP support it might not have passed.

Republicans on Monday said the change should have come sooner, but thanked Democrats for coming to the table to reach a bipartisan agreement on school resource officers.

“I think on both sides we want to make sure our schools, our kids, and our teachers are safe,” said Rep. Jeff Witte, a Lakeville Republican who once worked as a school resource officer.

Law enforcement groups including the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association and the Minnesota Peace and Police Officers Association said they were on board with the version of the bill that passed on Monday.

Activist groups like the Solutions Not Suspensions Coalition remain opposed, as they don’t want a rollback of restrictions on face-down restraints.

St. Paul Public Schools moved to end its school resource officer program in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd died after being held in a face-down restraint which impeded his breathing. Opponents of prone restraints in schools have cited Floyd’s death as an example of the risks posed by that type of force.

Related Articles