Over the past 2-3 weeks, it's felt like at least one Minnesota law enforcement jurisdiction per day has pulled School Resource Officers out of schools within their respective districts due to a lack of clarity on a new law passed in this year's legislative session.
Many Republican lawmakers have urged Gov. Tim Walz to call a special session of the Legislature in an effort to fix a law that seemed to cause more uncertainty than necessary. Walz has declined to do so, instead choosing to politicize the issue.
Wow — The Governor met today with vulnerable DFLers so they could get a photo op telling everyone they're working on a solution (while avoiding a special session).
— Andrew Wagner (@andrewwagner) September 20, 2023
It's all political—they're not interested in solving the problem, they just want the headache to go away. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/xy5mVccnGc
Ah, but Walz and AG Keith Ellison now seem to believe they've now done all that is necessary to quell any concerns.
Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a legal opinion about the law in August and put forth a supplemented opinion Wednesday. His office said there have been “significant misunderstandings about the impact” of changes to the state law, including an interpretation by some that SROs couldn’t use any physical contact to address non-violent behavior, but Ellison said that is not the case.
Walz met Wednesday with law enforcement, legislative leaders and Ellison, which he described Thursday as a productive meeting “where we made significant progress in coming to an agreement that will help ensure school safety.”
“Law enforcement leaders came to the Attorney General with valid questions, and I am grateful for the Attorney General’s binding opinion clarifying that school resource officers can continue to do their jobs effectively,” he said in a statement. “I am committed to further addressing this issue next legislative session and eager to see school resource officers return to schools as soon as possible.”
Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association are taking this under advisement.
MPPOA plans to issue guidance to law enforcement members, but a spokesperson agreed Wednesday’s meeting was productive and said she expects some law enforcement agencies could reinstate SRO programs soon.
The police association was concerned that the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) could take action against an officer’s license if, under the changed SRO law, an officer’s use of force was regarded as unauthorized or unreasonable.
The POST Board told law enforcement associations Thursday that it understands Ellison’s legal opinion is binding.
I guess my question is why did it take law enforcement jurisdictions pulling SROs from schools to get the Walz administration to actively engage this issue instead of dismissing the concerns as coming from a minority of districts? And AG Ellison's "supplemental opinion" certainly could have been issued soon after concerns were raised as opposed to when this issue was suddenly becoming politically inconvenient to Dems.
Bottom line is the absence of SROs will only serve to embolden bad actors within the schools. It shouldn't take a violent incident like what happened in Mankato to emphasize how vital it is to resolve this once and for all.
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