Today, the Minnesota Senate passed a comprehensive public safety bill, by a vote of 48 to 19. The Republican-led bill provides critical funding to hold criminals accountable and keep Minnesota’s communities safe. It focuses on all aspects of the criminal justice system and courts, including youth intervention, criminal laws, sentencing guidelines, police, prosecutors, public defenders, judges, prisons, and probation.
“Every Minnesotan should feel safe in their community,” Senate Judiciary & Public Safety Committee Vice-Chairman Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) said. “Our comprehensive public safety legislation addresses escalating violent crime by investing in our law enforcement and by holding violent criminals accountable for their actions. We work to bring transparency and accountability to our justice system while giving resources to programs that are proven to reduce crime. This bill is badly needed, and I am hopeful we can get it across the finish line.”
There are three main objectives in the bill: provide support for law enforcement recruitment and retention; toughen penalties for criminal activity; and increase transparency and accountability in judicial and prosecutorial actions.
Support For Law Enforcement
Included in the bill are provisions to address the central issues currently facing Minnesota’s law enforcement officers: recruitment, retention, education and training, and equipment.
The bill includes two provisions already passed by the Senate this year. The first is funding to the Department of Public Safety to develop and conduct an advertising campaign to elevate the law enforcement profession. This campaign will highlight law enforcement as an honorable career and the good work officers do every day to keep our communities safe. The idea was brought forward by law enforcement professionals who are dealing with more openings than applicants across the state. The second provision contains funding for the award-winning Pathways to Policing Program to support non-traditional candidates for law enforcement who already have at least an associate’s degree in another discipline.
To retain current law enforcement officers, the bill provides $3,000 in one-time bonuses to all licensed police officers and an additional incentive of $7,000 to officers nearing retirement who choose to continue serving.
Senator Johnson’s provision to provide funding for law enforcement training is also included in the bill. It will help ensure our Police Departments have the resources necessary to train officers on recent changes to use of force standards.
Holding criminals accountable for their crimes
Minnesota is experiencing a dangerous increase in violent crime across our state because criminals are not being held accountable for their crimes. To address this, the Judiciary & Public Safety Committee adopted several “tough on crime” provisions into the comprehensive public safety bill that increase penalties for repeat offenders, carjackers, and violent criminals using firearms. There is also enhanced support for the Violent Crime Enforcement Teams (VCET), which have been successful at targeting drugs and guns across the state.
Providing accountability and transparency
To respond to growing instances of violent criminals becoming repeat offenders and frequent decisions by prosecutors and judges to go easy on criminals, this bill takes several steps to improve transparency for the decisions that lead to early releases and failures to charge to the fullest extent possible.
This bill includes increased accountability for nonprofits. There have been recent stories where newly founded nonprofits are unable to prove what their funding is actually going towards. Even more alarmingly, in the past two years, there have been reports about violence interrupters tasked to work with law enforcement to de-escalate situations by non-profits who have themselves violently harmed other individuals. Youth Intervention Programs, a proven system that requires a local match with accountability to the Department of Public Safety and legislature, receives an additional $3 million in the bill.
This bill supports Minnesota’s criminal justice system with a $50 million increase in funding for public defenders. Recent reports of a strike by public defenders indicate the entire defense process is at risk. The majority of people charged with a crime use a public defender and are entitled to a fair and speedy trial with adequate representation for those with low incomes. Historically, public defender salaries have not kept up with the salaries of prosecutors, requiring a nearly 8% increase in funding for public defenders last year and additional investment this year for new employees to lower caseloads.
The Senate’s comprehensive public safety package now awaits action by the House of Representatives.