Mohamed Ibrahim is MinnPost’s environment and public safety reporter. He can be reached at mibrahim@minnpost.com.
The three-year pilot program will have students doing pro bono litigation in firearms law and the Second Amendment in an effort to prevent gun violence and grow the number of lawyers who have expertise in the area.
To continue bringing you public safety coverage that goes beyond the news of the day, providing more analysis and explaining the why behind what is happening, we need your help.
Demand for accountability for police and more robust civilian oversight remains strong more than two years after George Floyd was murdered by a former Minneapolis Police officer. But critics say the new structure still doesn’t go far enough, and demonstrates the city’s lack of commitment to any meaningful citizen oversight over the department.
The POST board is expected to vote on Friday on changes to its licensing standards, which includes a provision to prohibit members and supporters of white supremacist and hate groups from becoming licensed law enforcement officers.
While Mayor Mike Elliott’s progressive and decisive approach got the city through the killing of Wright, it didn’t appear to resonate with voters.
Several community members and activists called the proposal rushed and lacking any real power for civilians to hold officers accountable.
Mary Moriarty defeated Martha Holton Dimick by nearly 16 percentage points in Tuesday’s Hennepin County attorney race.
Moriarty, who won by a 15-point margin, pledged in her victory speech to fix parts of the legal system that have failed many.
The dynamics of the Hennepin County attorney race might feel familiar to watchers of local politics — with a split between the more progressive and centrist parts of the voter base.
The question comes a year after ex-Brooklyn Center Kim Potter shot and killed Wright during a traffic stop in April, which led to civil unrest and dayslong protests in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office – which has more than 300 deputies and oversees the state’s largest jail – will have its first Black sheriff despite the victor in this race, but each candidate laid out different visions for how they would do the county’s top cop job.
Departments across the Twin Cities metro area continue to have the same challenges retaining officers amid increases in demand for police services due to more crime.
Crime was a top concern for many likely Minnesota voters leading up to the election, and is a major focus of political campaigns. How much it will mobilize voters is an open question.
Support was similar across genders, ethnicities and education levels, but varied by party affiliation and age.
As opposed to Minneapolis, which named three out-of-town finalists and recently picked Brian O’Hara, of Newark, as the city’s new police chief, in St. Paul, four out of five candidates come from within the city’s police department.
Candidates Wynfred Russell and Hollies Winston both list crime as a top priority but their proposed approaches provide a stark contrast for voters to choose between.
Candidates Mary Moriarty and Martha Holton Dimick traded responses to questions submitted by the few dozen people in attendance at the forum in north Minneapolis on Thursday.
While some applauded the efforts, others, including students, say the university should be more transparent and include student voices in its decision-making.
Though the motives of the suspects in both incidents remained unclear, hate crimes against Muslim Minnesotans and other communities have been on the rise in recent years.
The biennial budget features nearly $400 million over the two-year life of the budget — 2023-24 — for the police department.
