HF 4304

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 04/17/2020 03:07pm

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; prohibiting public safety peer counseling or peer debriefing
information as evidence; reporting law enforcement use of force; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 181.973; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 626.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 181.973, is amended to read:

181.973 PUBLIC SAFETY PEER COUNSELING AND DEBRIEFING.

A person engaged in a public safety peer counseling or a public safety peer debriefing
shall not, without the permission of the person being debriefed or counseled, be allowed to
disclose any information or opinion which the peer group member or peer counselor has
acquired during the process. However, this does not prohibit a peer counselor from disclosing
information the peer counselor reasonably believes indicates that the person may be a danger
to self or others, if the information is used only for the purpose of eliminating the danger
to the person or others. Any information or opinion disclosed in violation of this paragraph
is not admissible as evidence in any deleted text begin personnel or occupational licensing matter deleted text end new text begin criminal,
administrative, or civil proceeding new text end involving the person being debriefed or counseled.

For purposes of this section, "public safety peer counseling or debriefing" means a group
process oriented debriefing session, or one-to-one contact with a peer counselor, held for
peace officers, firefighters, medical emergency persons, dispatchers, or other persons
involved with public safety emergency services, that is established by any agency providing
public safety emergency services and is designed to help a person who has suffered an
occupation-related trauma, illness, or stress begin the process of healing and effectively
dealing with the person's problems or the use of the peer counselor for direction with referrals
to better service these occupation-related issues. A "peer counselor" means someone so
designated by that agency.

Sec. 2.

new text begin [626.5534] USE OF FORCE REPORTING.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Report required. new text end

new text begin A chief law enforcement officer must provide the
information requested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about each incident of law
enforcement use of force resulting in serious bodily harm or death to the superintendent of
the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The superintendent shall adopt a reporting form for
use by law enforcement agencies in making the report required under this section. The report
must include for each incident all of the information requested by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Use of information collected. new text end

new text begin A chief law enforcement officer must file the
report under subdivision 1 once a month in the form required by the superintendent. The
superintendent must summarize and analyze the information received and submit an annual
written report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the house of representatives
and senate committees with jurisdiction over public safety. The superintendent shall submit
the information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
new text end