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2020 <br />(((*PATRO Legislative <br />Update <br />PEACE OFFICER ACCREDITED TRAINING ONLINE <br />Subject: 2020 Legislative Update <br />Principal Issues: Eyewitness identification <br />procedures; search warrants for electronic <br />communications information and location data; <br />drone use by law enforcement; stalking and <br />harassment by mail, underage tobacco laws; <br />extension of expiration dates for driver licenses and <br />state ID cards; use of force and deadly force; duty to <br />intervene; and peace officer training. <br />Date Issued: July 25, 2020 <br />Prepared By: League of Minnesota Cities Insurance <br />Trust <br />In other years, PATROL has released full one-hour <br />courses on August 1 detailing the latest legislative <br />developments. But this year, there was not much to <br />cover by the time the session ended—COVID both <br />dominated and disrupted the legislative process. <br />One week after the regular session ended, however, <br />George Floyd was killed while in police custody in <br />Minneapolis. On July 21, 2020, the Minnesota <br />Legislature passed a series of measures aimed at <br />police reform and accountability, and these will <br />impact police practices and training going forward. <br />Many of the changes from the regular and second <br />special session have effective dates of August 1, <br />and one critical change is effective July 24, leaving <br />no time to develop and release a course before the <br />measures become law. As a result, this bulletin is <br />being provided to acquaint you with relevant <br />developments, and we will be working in the <br />months ahead on additional training in response to <br />the new measures. Four immediate, critical changes <br />relating to the use of force are included below and <br />highlighted. <br />Different officers will have different levels of <br />interest in these legislative developments. We have <br />1 2020 Minn. Laws Ch. 90, sec. 1. <br />2 See, e.g., U.S. Dep't of Justice, Office of Pub. Affairs, <br />Justice Department Announces Department -Wide <br />Procedures for Eyewitness Identification, (Jan. 6, <br />2017), https://www.justice.aov/opLpr/iustice- <br />tried to find the sweet spot between providing you <br />with enough and too much information. If you <br />would like to know more about any of the <br />measures being discussed, the footnotes will refer <br />you to the appropriate statute or session law. <br />CRIMINAL PROCEDURE <br />Eyewitness identification: <br />Model policy required: A new statute, section <br />626.8433, directs the POST Board to develop and <br />issue a model policy on eyewitness identification <br />procedures, and requires that agencies adopt and <br />implement an identical or substantially similar <br />policy by February 1, 2021.' <br />Details of the policy: The model policy must <br />provide for the "blind" or "blinded" administration <br />of photo lineups, which reduce the possibility of <br />unintentional suggestion.2 In a blind lineup, the <br />officer administering it does not know the <br />suspect's identity. If this is not practical, the <br />officer administering the lineup must use a blinded <br />procedure, which means that the officer cannot see <br />which photo the witness is examining at any given <br />moment.' In addition, the eyewitness must be <br />informed before the lineup that the perpetrator <br />may or may not be included in the lineup; others <br />included in the photo array must be similar in <br />appearance to the eyewitness's description of the <br />suspect; and immediately after an identification is <br />made, the witness should provide a statement in <br />their own words that describes their degree of <br />confidence in the identification.' <br />Search warrants for electronic communication <br />information: <br />Accessing electronic communications: Minnesota <br />Statutes section 626A.28 establishes procedures <br />for government entities to obtain information from <br />department-announces-department-wide-procedures- <br />eyewitness-identification. <br />3 Minn. Stat. § 626.8433, subd. 1(1) (2020). <br />4Id. § 626.8433, subd. 1(2)-(4). <br />