Today, the Minnesota Senate passed a comprehensive public safety bill, by a vote of 48-19. 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.
“Rising violent crime is affecting our entire state,” Senator Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) said. “Our public safety bill funds our law enforcement, holds violent criminals accountable, and improves accountability in our justice system. Our police do an outstanding job keeping our communities safe and they deserve our support. This bill works to ensure every Minnesotan can feels safe and secure in their community.”
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.
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.
The bill funds Youth Intervention Programs, a proven system that requires a local match with accountability to the Department of Public Safety and legislature.
This bill supports Minnesota’s criminal justice system with an increase in funding for public defenders. Recent reports 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 an 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.