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1 <br />WORKING GROUP POLICE-INVOLVED DEADLY FORCE ENCOUNTERS RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION STEPS <br />FOREWORD <br />Any encounter between police and community that <br />results in injury or death is not only a tragedy for <br />the person that is injured or killed, it is life-altering <br />for their loved ones and the officers involved, and <br />has a profound impact on the entire community. <br />There have been many firm opinions over the years <br />about why police-involved deadly force encounters <br />persist, and those opinions have grown more intense <br />and more polarized as people’s and communities’ <br />frustration, grief, and anger has grown. This has <br />also made practical solutions for reducing them that <br />can be effectively implemented and widely adopted <br />harder and harder to agree on. In the meantime, <br />people continue losing their lives, survivors’ lives <br />continue being changed forever, communities con- <br />tinue being torn apart, and trust between community <br />and law enforcement continues to fray. <br />We thought it didn’t need to be that way any longer <br />and that we were in a position to do something about <br />it. We began talking about a working group more <br />than a year ago, right after each of us took office. <br />We were, and are, rooted in the premise that we <br />as a state can work through polarization to get to <br />actually implementable steps for reducing deadly <br />force encounters if we bring together people from <br />a broad range of experience and backgrounds who <br />have not been invited or encouraged to talk to each <br />other about it before, and if we commit to really <br />listen to each other and stay at the table when the <br />going gets rough, as we knew it inevitably would. <br />This is something no other state has tried before. <br />We saw an opportunity for Minnesota to set a <br />national model and we took it. <br />Over 50 panelists and community members offered <br />in-person testimony over the course of four hear- <br />ings. We convened hearings in Saint Paul, Mankato, <br />Cloquet, and Brooklyn Park. Dozens of community <br />members spoke of their experiences at three listening <br />sessions in Minneapolis, Bemidji, and Worthington. <br />Additionally, nine email submissions were submitted <br />via the working group website. <br />The working group spent more than 30 hours in <br />deliberations and discussions centered on the <br />recommendations witnesses offered during their <br />testimony. After that many hours of discussion, and <br />sometimes strong disagreement, the 18 members <br />of this working group are proposing, with consensus, <br />28 recommendations and 33 action steps. They’re <br />not everything that everyone wanted, but they are <br />real, actionable recommendations that, if imple- <br />mented, will reduce police-involved deadly force <br />encounters. <br />We want to thank each and every member of the <br />working group who joined in the spirit of good faith <br />and a desire to make an impact, and kept coming <br />back in that spirit. They have set a model for listening <br />and honoring each other, as well as for wrestling <br />with differences, that Minnesotans can be proud of. <br />We thank everyone who delivered testimony, every <br />way that they delivered it. We especially thank the <br />families of people who have died or experienced <br />deadly force encounters for sharing their grief, <br />pain, resilience, and creativity with us, and for both <br />challenging and encouraging us. <br />These 28 recommendations and the forthcoming <br />report will not just sit on a shelf. It is not an end in <br />itself: it’s merely the end of the beginning of turning <br />these recommendations into reality, building trust, <br />healing, and making sure everyone gets home safe.