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Gov. Urges Officer Training Fund To Be Named After Philando Castile

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- On the anniversary of Philando Castile's death, Gov. Mark Dayton is recommending a new law enforcement training fund be named after him.

A year ago, St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez opened fire seconds after Castile told him he had a gun. Last month, a jury found Yanez not guilty of manslaughter, among other charges.

The case received international attention from the moment Castile's girlfriend live-streamed the aftermath on Facebook. Protests followed in the Twin Cities and beyond.

In a news conference Thursday, the governor called Castile's death one of the most traumatic events for the state of Minnesota in the six-and-a-half years he's been in office, in part, because it highlighted the divisions and problems between communities of color and law enforcement.

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A year after the shooting, the Castile family feels it's time to create change while never forgetting what happened.

"At the end of the day, everyone wants to go home -- the police want to go home and the civilian want to go home," said Valerie Castile, Philando Castile's mother, in Thursday's news conference.

The Castile family hopes a new bipartisan-approved $12 million state fund for police and community training will help improve communication and interaction between Minnesota's growing communities of color and members of law enforcement.

During the news conference, Dayton asked the Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, board to name the fund after Philando Castile, noting that every police officer and every Minnesotan has a responsibility to work better together.

"I've been on police ridealongs and followed along behind police as they've gone around the corner in a dark alley...it takes, frankly, more courage than I have, but it also means they have got to be able to operate in those situations with the utmost restraint, and that's where this training is so vitally important," Dayton said.

The POST board will decide where and how the training is implemented this fall across the state.

The governor also appointed Philando Castile's uncle, Clarence Castile, to the serve on the POST Board as a member of the public.

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