MCPA's 2022 Legislative Agenda

The Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association (MCPA) 2022 Legislative Agenda was developed over a period of several months with input from the state’s police chiefs, law enforcement leaders and stakeholder groups. Members of the organization’s Legislative Committee, which is made up of public safety professionals at the municipal and state levels from agencies large and small, urban and rural, discussed, vetted and prioritized the agenda. The MCPA Board of Directors approved the final agenda on November 18, 2021.

TRANSPARENCY IN CHARGING ACT
The MCPA supports legislation that would require County Attorney’s to provide data to the legislature about felony level offenses that go uncharged. This is in response to massive violent crime increases at the hands of serious offenders who should have been in jail but were able to commit additional crimes against the public.

OFFICER WELLNESS
The MCPA supports legislation that would provide Law Enforcement agencies with training for emotional resiliency and understanding of responder trauma. This legislation would create support groups, mental health checks and therapy, suicide prevention, awareness, and family support. Additionally, our association supports a requirement for public employers to provide treatment for those diagnosed with PTSD and ensure the person remains financially whole while receiving 32 weeks of treatment.

MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE ACT
The MCPA supports legislation to fund multi-jurisdictional co-responder
programs or Embedded Social Workers. Additionally, the MCPA supports making changes to current policy and practices to better share information amongst first responders, medical professionals, and human services representatives. The goal is to improve the response to, and outcomes of, mental health calls for service.

USE OF FORCE TRAINING FOR LEGISLATORS
MCPA supports mandating training for legislators prior to passing any use of force statutory reform laws. The scenario based training would help legislators better understand the situations officers find themselves in on a daily basis.

ARBITRATION REVISION ACT
The MCPA supports creating a more objective arbitration process by having the Office of Administrative Hearings handle all police officer termination grievances.

OFFICER INTEGRITY ACT
The MCPA supports legislation allowing for a Minnesota Licensed Peace Officer to be terminated from public employment without opportunity to challenge the remedy of termination should the basis for termination be willful or intentional dishonesty, deception, or similar unethical or illegal conduct that is deemed sufficient to imperil their credibility in court testimony. The MCPA does not support limiting an officer’s due process right to arbitration.

LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FUNDING
The MCPA supports continuing the POST Board training reimbursement allocation to local agencies, which began in 2018, into perpetuity. The Peace Officer Training Fund is for mandated training in the areas of recognizing and valuing diversity and cultural differences, conflict management and mediation, crisis intervention and mental Illness crises.

CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS
The MCPA supports preventing individuals who are legally able to purchase a gun from doing so without background checks at gun shows, online or in private transactions.

EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDERS (ERPO)
The MCPA supports allowing law enforcement who believe an individual’s documented dangerous behavior has a substantial likelihood to lead to violence to request an order from a civil court authorizing the temporary removal of any guns in the individual’s possession and the prohibition of any new gun purchases during the duration of the temporary order.

K12 THREAT ASSESSMENTS
The MCPA supports legislation requiring school districts to establish a team of subject matter experts to examine and address school safety issues and specific threats to the students, staff and community. This legislation would move our state beyond physical school safety measures, such as infrastructure improvement grants, passed by the Legislature in 2018.

PERMIT TO PURCHASE FEES
The MCPA supports allowing local municipal police departments to charge a reasonable fee for processing permit to purchase applications.

TOBACCO FREE SCHOOLS
The MCPA supports legislation making school property tobacco-free zones and penalizing minors for possessing tobacco products on school grounds.

ALLOWING CLEOS ACCESS TO THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY DATABASE
The MCPA supports giving chief law enforcement officers the ability to utilize the resources of the National Criminal History database to conduct background investigations for certain business licenses and certain employment background investigations.

Ramsey County Sheriff's Deputy Sergeant Sonya Eastham is helping coordinate mental health support services for MCPA across the state. “The providers I know that work with law enforcement, we’re kind of insular,” she says.  “We only know of a few others like us.  We don’t really have that opportunity to gather people in different parts of the state," Eastham recently told Minnesota Police Chief magazine.

She and MCPA aims to change that.  This winter, the Minnesota Chiefs will launch an initiative to identify mental health professionals who can work with cops and, in turn, offer assistance to chiefs and other law enforcement leaders. “We hear this all of the time:  There aren’t enough providers who are good a working with cops.”

Eastham believes more can be done to support the mental wellness of CLEOs and their personnel.  It will begin with a more organized process to identify those experts and clinicians who know the unique world of Minnesota law enforcement.  And, as she develops her list of resources, Eastham is ready to accept recommendations from chiefs and others who know of people with a strong track record. “The bigger we can get that list of people who have worked with law enforcement or military, the better it is for us.

Contact Sonya Eastham with recommendations for mental health providers and requests for referrals


Sonya Eastham
First Call for Help Coordinator
[email protected]