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Bill Would Require Crisis Training, Diversity For Minnesota Police Departments

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Minnesota police officers may get more crisis training to help deal with the growing number of public protests, some of them stemming from police shootings of black men.

State lawmakers are advancing a bill to require crisis response training and more diversity on police departments.

"I'm admitting that maybe police need more training," said State Representative Tony Cornish, the chair of the House Public Safety Committee.

Cornish, a 32-year law enforcement veteran, is authoring groundbreaking legislation he hopes will ease tensions between police and minority communities.

"It does go a long way to fix some of the complaints that we've heard," he said. "And most of the complaints are about questions of training. What are we trained in? What do we need?"

The Minnesota bill creates a state-paid program for police training that includes de-escalating confrontations, and crisis intervention.

It also helps police departments find and hire more officers of color, which police chiefs say is a challenge.

"The number of applicants is down, and we're all seeing our communities more diverse," said Jeff Potts, the Bloomington police chief.  "And we want to hire police departments or have police forces that match their communities."

Minnesota has been home to large-scale protests after the police shooting deaths of Philando Castile during a traffic stop, and Jamar Clark after an altercation with paramedics.

But the bill to require statewide police training is finding rare bi-partisan agreement.

"For the first time, law enforcement has come forward and said 'We want you to mandate these types of trainings,'" said Representative Debra Hilstrom, (DFL) Brooklyn Center. "And it is the first time anywhere in Minnesota that this has happened."

The Minnesota House Public Safety Committee unanimously approved the police training program, which is estimated to cost $10 million a year.

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