Change the rules on no-knock warrants

The search warrant on the apartment where Amir Locke was staying went by the rules. Minneapolis police listed the reasons they were seeking a no-knock warrant and a judge signed off on it. Police entered the dwelling with a key and once in, loudly announced their presence, as required.

And yet Locke, who was neither named in the warrant nor a suspect in the crime under investigation, was shot to death by an officer within nine seconds of police entry. He had been lying down under a blanket on a couch, his hand on a gun he had obtained legally and for which he had a permit.

It's time to change the rules.

Locke's death is just the latest in a series of high-profile incidents that are causing a growing number of law enforcement agencies to consider banning or severely restricting no-knock warrants. Mendota Heights Police Chief Kelly McCarthy, who leads the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board, told an editorial writer that, personally, she would like to see the practice ended.

"In this climate, and with our profession where it is right now, we need to get back trust," she said. "There are legal gun owners very concerned about this. Police are concerned. We're human and we make mistakes."

Last April, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was forced to apologize after Minneapolis police gave the wrong address on a no-knock warrant, sending an Anoka County SWAT team to the home of an innocent Coon Rapids woman, who was held at gunpoint along with her 12-year-old daughter during the raid.

Minnesota would be far from the first to enact severe restrictions. Oregon, Florida and Virginia and more than a dozen cities all ban or severely limit the practice. Many of the changes came after the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT shot by Louisville police during a botched no-knock raid.

Rob Doar, of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, told an editorial writer that no-knock warrants are on a collision course with the growing number of lawful gun owners. Nationally, about 40% of homes have legal firearms, he said, including about 2.5 million gun owners in Minnesota alone. He noted that first-time gun ownership is up 58% among people of color.

Doar was among those defending Locke's right to have a legal gun on his person. A licensed peace officer, he said that he is reluctant to take any tool out of an officer's toolbox, "but we've given an inch and some agencies are taking a mile. Maybe we can't even give that inch anymore."

We should be clear here that even the strictest ban on no-knock warrants will not put an end to forced entries. As McCarthy points out, under certain circumstances, "even if police knock and announce, if they get no response, we are 100% kicking that door in."

Minnesota enacted modest changes to no-knock warrants in 2021, requiring more documentation and restricting hours, but as House Speaker Melissa Hortman noted following Locke's death, "It is clear those were insufficient."

A bill just introduced in the state House would not be a complete ban, but would reserve no-knocks for hostage situations. That is a bit too narrow, but we like the language that calls for "clear and convincing evidence," which is a stricter legal standard. The bill would require officers to show why they could not use more conventional means and to list investigative activities used to support the request. It also requires the chief officer or another superior officer to review each application and document approval, a much-needed piece of accountability.

No-knock warrants started federally in the 1970s and gained momentum from there. Their use grew exponentially, from 3,000 no-knock and quick-knock warrants in 1981 to 60,000 to 70,000 by 2010. Between 2010 and 2016, some 94 people were killed during no-knock raids, including 13 police officers.

Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, told CNN recently that his agency no longer advocates for no-knock raids, preferring alternatives that lessen risk. He also questioned the relatively high annual usage of such warrants in Minneapolis. "If you look at comparable cities that size, 140 no-knocks would cause pause. At the end of the day, I'm going to bet you … 140 no-knock warrants shouldn't have been served as no-knock warrants." St. Paul police have not used a no-knock warrant since 2016.

Yet some defend their use. "I may be the last holdout on this," said St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson. "We are hearing from other agencies that they haven't done them and some not for a long time. But I still think there are times when they're needed."

Anderson said his department has conducted 10 since last July. "We've had no injuries, no deaths, and the people we were looking for were apprehended without further incident," he said. Anderson attributes that record to careful police work.

"It's about due diligence before we execute the warrant, and constant threat assessment," he said. "If we are granted one, we continue our due diligence. We do surveillance before we execute to make sure there aren't kids or people we're not looking for." Anderson said his command staff consults with him or a superior officer on every no-knock request.

He also is quick to remind that "ours is a profession where you can follow every rule, go by the book, and still have a horrible outcome."

But in part because that is true, there is a desperate need to ensure that no-knock warrants are as rare as possible. Innocent people should not have to live in fear of police entering their homes without warning.