Working Group Offers Recommendations to Reduce Police Deadly Force Situations

St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin updated the County's Officer Deadly Force Encounters Policy as well.

DULUTH, Minn.- A working group in the Twin Cities organized by Attorney General Keith Ellison unveiled a report with recommendations on how to reduce deadly force encounters with law enforcement, and Officer-Involved-Shootings across the state.

The Working Group on Police-Involved Deadly Force Encounters came up with 28 recommendations and 33 action steps.

Those recommendations include training law enforcement in de-escalation skills and a special unit within the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate all Officer-Involved-Shootings that result in death or severe bodily injury.

“The foundation is really in the sanctity of life. What can we do to make certain that we are respecting that concept of sanctity of life, keeping people safe,” said St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin, a member of the working group.

Rubin said he hopes these recommendations spur action across the state. Meanwhile as a byproduct of the report, Rubin has updated the County’s Officer Deadly Force Encounters Policy.

“We want people to talk about this issue but we also want action. This is, we’re not gonna be content with this being a report that sits on a shelf, that’s it.”