Police Reform A Major Sticking Point As Legislative Session Nears Its End
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, the city of Brooklyn Center found itself at the center of a national and statewide debate over police reform.
Saturday, the city did what the state legislature has not been able to: pass comprehensive changes to policing.
The city of Brooklyn Center has voted for a set of police reforms that could have possibly prevented the fatal shooting of Wright. Wright was pulled over for expired tabs, and because he had an outstanding warrant for having a pistol without a permit, officers tried to arrest him. Under the new law, unarmed civilians will enforce non-moving traffic violations, and arrests on low level offenses will at least temporarily be banned in favor of citations.
Similar measures have been debated for weeks at the Minnesota legislature. In fact, police reform is one of the major sticking points as the deadline for adjournment looms. What impact will the Brooklyn Center vote have, if any, on legislators? We asked Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and House Ways and Means Chair Rena Moran, both guests on WCCO Sunday Morning.
"We are looking at all of the provisions that the House provided. We think some of them are anti-police so we're just not going to do any of those, but if there's reforms that make sense, sort of like last July when we passed about a dozen police reforms, we will take a look at them," Gazelka said.
"We have to put some police accountability in place. It is, in all our negotiations that has been at front and center about how we need to move forward," Moran said.
During the fatal encounter last month, it appears Officer Kim Potter confused her service revolver for a taser. She resigned from the police force and has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. Her next court appearance is Monday morning.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Mike Augustyniak every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.