Working Group On Deadly Police Encounters Reports Progress

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A working group that has been looking at ways to reduce deadly encounters between police and citizens in Minnesota said Thursday that many of its recommendations are being implemented through new rules and regulations.

The group in its one-year progress report noted that the Minnesota Police Accountability Act of 2020 adopted several of the panel's suggestions, including modifying the threshold for police use of deadly force and the creation of an independent unit to investigate deadly force cases involving police.

The law requires all law enforcement agencies to report to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension all incidents of use of force that result in serious bodily injury or death.

In the year since the working group released a list of 28 recommendations and 33 action steps, it says it has made measurable progress on 23 of them.

"The progress that has been made on the working group's recommendations is proof that there is commitment to change and common ground on solutions," Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said.

The Pohlad Family Foundation, the charitable arm of the owners of the Minnesota Twins, has committed $3 million, through a partnership with the National League of Cities, to help implement the group's recommendations, it was announced Thursday.

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