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Share your #wearthebadge story

Since its debut at the end of 2018, MCPA's Wear the Badge series has connected with tens of thousands of people across Minnesota and around the world.  The stories are especially popular with young people exploring law enforcement as a career and ordinary citizens hoping to get a better idea of what it is really like to protect and serve in the 21st Century.

The Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association is honored to share your personal stories.  It doesn't matter if your career path was straight and to the point or whether you followed a road less traveled.  Help us spread the word about policing and why others should #wearthebadge.  Please pass along the officer's name (or your name), rank and years of service.  You should include a photo or two of the person at work or doing something they love.  Also include answers to these quick questions:

           1. Why did you choose policing as a career?

           2. What do you love about being a cop? 

           3. Any advice for someone considering a career in law enforcement? 

You can send your submissions to [email protected] and our staff will take it from there. Thanks in advance for your help. The more stories we can get out there (and share!), the stronger the impact our Wear the Badge efforts will be.
 
The Minnesota Legislature adjourned on May 20th without a complete budget deal. Governor Walz, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and House Speaker Melissa Hortman reached a broad budget deal before adjournment, but many details had not been hammered out. Since then all of the budget bills have been agreed to by the various leaders and lawmakers completed their work in a one-day special sesison.

The Public Safety Conference Committee made little progress negotiating differences during the final weeks of session. Much of the debate centered around 74 policy provisions contained in the House version of the bill that the Senate didn’t have positions on or had never heard in their committee. The Public Safety Budget target was agreed to and heard in an informational committee this week. Key highlights that are in the bill:
  • Police Training Funding: Our proposal for increased training reimbursement will remain at current levels. The Senate unfortunately had proposed cutting this funding but thankfully we were able to ensure that the funding remained. In the next budget cycle these funds will sunset and we will continue to fight to eliminate the sunset ensuring this important funding will continue in perpetuity.The House proposal would have put a sunset on the Pathways to Policing funding. MCPA opposed this change and we were successful in eliminating that sunset in the final budget deal.Additionally, the House bill contained several data collection pieces that MCPA opposed with other law enforcement partners. These mandates were not included in the final budget deal.
  • UAV Policy Language: Both the Senate and House bills contained language regulating the use of drones. MCPA opposed this legislation as it would have required a significantly high bar for use and limited our capacity to use this important technology when necessary. The language was not included in the final budget deal.

  • Forfeiture Reform Task Force: The House spent significant time this year trying to pass legislation that would have eliminated civil asset forfeiture. MCPA and the entire law enforcement coalition opposed this legislation and were able to have the bill amended on the House Floor and replace it with a task force to look at reforming the process. This task force was not included in the budget deal.

  • Cannabis: The Senate killed a bill that would have legalized recreational cannabis earlier in the session. The House spent their time focusing on a taskforce to study what other states have done and reducing thresholds. None of these items were included in the final budget deal.

  • Criminal Background Checks/ERPO: The House passed both Criminal Background Check reforms and allowing law enforcement to petition the courts for an Emergency Risk Protection Order. These bills were supported by MCPA but unfortunately they were not included in the final bills. These bills remain major priorities for the Governor and DFL House.

  • POST Board Funding: One key change that did happen is the funding for the POST board will now come out of the General Fund as opposed to the Special Revenue Account. We will monitor this issue going forward as these funds will compete with all others from the general fund.

  • Criminal Sexual Assault Policy/Task Force: in the wake of the Star Tribune’s denied justice series the legislature has approved legislation to take a further look at how reform might come in the future. This will be done through a task force in the coming year. Additionally, the legislature passed legislation that will require agencies to have a policy in dealing with these cases that is very similar to what POST sent out a few months ago.
 

Civil Asset Forfeiture in the 2019 Legislative Session

During debate in the Minnesota House of Representatives, the A76 amendment was proposed, which establishes a task force to study civil asset forfeiture.  The A76 amendment (click here to read it) is clearly a better option than the current proposal, which destroys the civil asset forfeiture process and prevents law enforcement from being able to hold criminals accountable for certain crimes. 

Civil asset forfeiture is a powerful tool used by police and prosecutors in Minnesota and across the country to break the drug trafficking cycle and deprive the criminals of their ill-gotten gains through seizure of drug money. 

The forfeiture of property used by persons to commit crimes, and the forfeiture of monies and other profits derived from criminal activity has long been recognized by the legislature and criminal justice professionals as a valuable means to enforce the law, deter crime, and reduce economic incentives for persons to engage in criminal activity 

Unfortunately, the current proposal will dismantle civil asset forfeiture, and, in essence, say to sophisticated drug traffickers – come do business here in Minnesota. 

We know this proposal would dramatically and adversely impact the public safety of Minnesotans by making our state a safe-haven for criminals participating in the illegal distribution of drugs and even repeat drunk drivers that take lives, destroy families and wreak havoc on our roadways. 

It’s important to understand that property seized in Minnesota under forfeiture laws, such as drug money and vehicles driven in DWI cases, must be connected to ongoing criminal behavior. 

Current law allows for a person to engage in a simple process and be heard either in conciliation or district court about why the property should not be forfeited. 

 
To find your Minnesota House representative, follow this link: 
 

Once again this year, MCPA has joined with Heka Health to offer the Chiefs Step Challenge.  Read below to learn how you can compete for cash prizes and walk your way to better health.
 

 
 

Once again this year, as part of MCPA's mission to increase member access and participation, 3 ETI sessions will be available through a video livestream.  They include:

The Sleep Solution with Dr. Chris Winter
10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 16th
 
Colorado's Marijuana Experience
2:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 16th
 
Mental Strength and Resiliency for Peace Officers
3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16th

Please invite your team to register to view these sessions for FREE.  Share this link with your team:

Register for the FREE ETI 2019 Video Livestream

Once each session concludes, they will have an opportunity to receive POST credits by completing a short quiz.  This is a service used at ETI and Critical Issues Forums.  We have had more than 150 officers watch sessions and receive credit.
 
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