The St. Paul Police Department announced that an outside agency will investigate any future officer-involved shootings.
The department said it has been mulling the change since May when a presidential task force issued a report stating that external, independent criminal investigations should be conducted in the wake of an officer-involved shooting or death. The department hopes that the change is seen as move towards transparency.
“We’ve been a department since 1854 — 162 years — and we’ve done our own investigations since then,” said Assistant Chief Bill Martinez. “The integrity and character of our St. Paul homicide unit’s investigators hasn’t changed, but the flavor of policing nationwide has. I think the community was asking for a little more transparency and, if we can build trust … by having an outside agency come in, then I think that’s a good thing for us.”
Prior to the change, any officer-involved shooting was investigated by the St. Paul Police Department’s homicide unit. Under the new procedure, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will be called in to investigate all cases “involving use of force or response to resistance or aggression that results in the death or serious injury of any person.”
15 people were fatally shot by St. Paul police between 2004 and 2015, and 10 more individuals died at the hands of Minneapolis police officers during that same period.
Will Minneapolis Follow Suit?
It seems likely that the Minneapolis Police Department will follow through with a similar measure in the near future. The department asked the BCA to investigate the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark back in November, and Police Cheif Janeé Harteau endorsed the outside agency in a statement earlier this week.
“While I have full confidence in the investigative teams in our department, I also share the community’s desire for independent investigations,” Harteau said. “Consistent with the MPD’s core values of integrity and transparency, I will continue to ask the BCA to investigate these cases.”
In fact, the city was almost required by law to turn over officer-involved shootings to an outside agency. Last year, a bill was drafted and introduced at the Legislature that would have required it, but it fell short of becoming a law.
In the end, the move by the St. Paul police and soon the Minneapolis police will make the process more transparent. Tensions run high whenever someone loses their life at the hands of a police officer, and hopefully knowing that the details surrounding the shooting will be handled by a neutral party will help deescalate some of the aftermath and ensure justice is served.
