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25 <br />WORKING GROUP POLICE-INVOLVED DEADLY FORCE ENCOUNTERS RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION STEPS <br />HEARING SUMMARIES <br />for officers on an annual basis; mandated therapy <br />after all critical incidents; training for families and <br />officers to recognize signs of PTSD, depression <br />and suicide; a checklist for what officers and their <br />families really need after a critical incident; support <br />services with a liaison for officers and their families; <br />and legislative funding to enhance police training <br />budgets to do the mental health training. <br />The sixth panel focused on the issue of arbitration <br />and how it affects the ability of law enforcement <br />agencies to fire unsatisfactory officers. James <br />Michels of Rice, Michels and Walther, LLP and <br />Isaac Kaufman of Law Enforcement Labor Services <br />addressed the current system for how and why <br />arbitration for public employees works. Kaufman <br />shared research on the 67 law enforcement <br />arbitration cases since 2006: 55 percent were <br />found in favor of the law enforcement agency. <br />The concern for law enforcement executives is <br />that they are sometimes prohibited by arbitration <br />rulings from firing an officer they feel is unfit or <br />unsafe for duty, thus increasing a potential risk <br />for bad outcomes with the community. <br />The final session was reserved for public testi mony <br />and that of affected families. Chuck Turchik, <br />a community member, spoke about a number of <br />issues, including the need to have more solid data <br />about the nature of the problem before the working <br />group can accurately address the causes, including <br />how many cases, all the demographics and data <br />around the cases, context of the incidents, etc. He <br />emphasized that the follow-up for implementation will <br />be as important as the recommendations for change. <br />The testimony of affected families was provided by <br />Toshira Galloway, Ashley Quinones and Chara Blanch. <br />Recommendations included extending the statute of <br />limitations in filing wrongful death cases from three <br />to six years in situations of police-involved deadly <br />force; establishing a State Inspector General with the <br />authority to open any cases involving police-involved <br />deadly force encounters with no statute of limitations; <br />establish a State Special Prosecutor’s Office to <br />handle police-involved deadly force encounters; <br />and put control of the POST Board into the hands <br />of community representatives to ensure community <br />oversight of police standards and training. <br />The hearing was closed by the co-chairs. All proceed- <br />ings were live-streamed, recorded on video, and <br />posted to the working group website posted below. <br />Materials provided by the presenters are also avail- <br />able at https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/co/workinggroup/ <br />Pages/resources.aspx.