HF 543

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/16/2015 04:32pm

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; requiring policies addressing the investigation of peace
officer-involved deaths; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 626.

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

Section 1.

[626.8475] PEACE OFFICER-INVOLVED DEATHS; POLICIES
REQUIRED.

Subdivision 1.

Definition.

As used in this section, "officer-involved death" means
a death of an individual that results directly from an action or an omission of a peace
officer while the officer is on duty or off duty but performing activities that are within the
scope of the officer's law enforcement duties.

Subd. 2.

Statewide model policy.

(a) The board, in consultation with the Minnesota
Chiefs of Police Association, the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, the Minnesota
Police and Peace Officers Association, a representative from the Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension, and a representative from the State Patrol, shall adopt and disseminate a
model policy governing the investigation of officer-involved deaths. The model policy
must at a minimum:

(1) require that an investigation into the death occur and be conducted by at least
two investigators, one of whom being designated as the lead investigator and neither of
whom being employed by the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer
involved in the officer-involved death;

(2) require that if the officer-involved death is traffic-related, in addition to the
other requirements described in this subdivision, the investigation must include a crash
reconstruction unit from a law enforcement agency that does not employ the peace officer
involved in the officer-involved death, except that a state law enforcement agency may
allow an investigation involving a peace officer employed by that state law enforcement
agency to use a crash reconstruction unit from the same state law enforcement agency;

(3) require that the investigators conducting the investigation provide, in an
expeditious manner, a complete report to the county attorney of the county in which
the officer-involved death occurred; and

(4) authorize that an internal investigation into the officer-involved death may be
completed by the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer involved in the
officer-involved death if the internal investigation does not interfere with the outside
investigation conducted under this subdivision.

(b) The board shall seek and consider comments of members of the public when
adopting the model policy.

Subd. 3.

Agency policies required.

(a) The chief law enforcement officer of every
state and local law enforcement agency shall establish and enforce a written policy
governing the investigation of officer-involved deaths that is identical or substantially
similar to the model policy adopted by the board.

(b) Every state and local law enforcement agency must certify annually to the board
that it has adopted a written policy in compliance with the board's model policy.

Subd. 4.

Release of report.

If the county attorney determines there is no basis
to prosecute the peace officer involved in the officer-involved death, the attorney shall
inform the investigators who conducted the investigation of this determination and the
investigators shall release the report to the public.

Sec. 2. TIME TABLES.

(a) The Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training shall adopt the model policy
described in section 1, subdivision 2, by October 1, 2015.

(b) Chief law enforcement officers shall adopt the policy described in section 1,
subdivision 3, by January 15, 2016.