School resource officer law a likely target for Minnesota's 2024 legislative session

Leaders in several Minnesota law enforcement agencies, school districts and education organizations want the Legislature to update a statute that defines how and when police officers may use force in schools when it convenes in February.

A two-word tweak to state law led several police departments and sheriffs to suspend their school resource officer — or SRO — programs earlier this year. At issue was the question of whether those officers could restrain students breaking the law if they don't pose a physical threat to themselves or anyone else in the building.

Many law enforcement leaders decided they didn't want to adopt different rules for officers and deputies stationed in schools vs. those on regular patrol.

"Whether a situation happens at a school or at a city park, the officer's directive to use force should be consistent," said Jeff Potts, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

Rep. Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, chairs the House public safety committee and says legislative leaders have pledged to hold hearings on the law early in the session.

"We've listened closely to school districts, law enforcement, and other stakeholders, and will continue to welcome their input," she said in a statement. "I'm hopeful we will reach a consensus allowing SROs to effectively do their jobs while ensuring schools will be safe learning environments."

Rep. Jeff Witte, R-Lakeville, said he's met with educators and law enforcement officials over the last few months. And even though most Dakota County school districts maintained their school resource officer programs, many want the legislature to amend the law in order to end the confusion.

It's unclear how many agencies suspended their school resource officer programs in response to the law change. The count was around 40 in early October, according to an unofficial tally maintained by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

A handful of agencies resumed their programs after Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a pair of clarifications to the law, the latter saying that a state statute governing when and how officers may use force supersedes the May legislation.

Blue Earth County Sheriff Jeff Wersal said those clarifications were good enough to get his deputies back in St. Clair schools.

"Top of mind, for me, was whether I've got to worry about my deputy being criminally charged," Wersal said.

The Coon Rapids Police Department also reinstated its school resource program soon after, as did officials in Moorhead, one of the first agencies to pull its officers out of school buildings. But Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty cast fresh confusion for some agencies after issuing her own memo contradicting Ellison's.

"There's high optimism," Potts said. "My conversation with legislators is that they do want to resolve this."

Josh Crosson, executive director of the education advocacy group EdAllies, is part of a coalition of students, parents and activists who say the law is clear as is. He questioned a theoretical scenario many law enforcement officials cited in their calls for a special session to amend the law. Police officers claimed they'd be held liable for restraining a student breaking windows because the act didn't endanger them or others.

But Crosson points to a memo by the League of Minnesota Cities that recites that exact scenario and comes to the opposite conclusion.

"When a child breaks a window, there's glass that could hurt them or anyone else in the room," he said. "That action actually poses a threat to somebody else."

Regardless of whether lawmakers amend the 2023 law on student restraints, Crosson said he plans to press the Legislature for mandates requiring transparency on the deals school district strike with law enforcement agencies. He wants districts to publicly post how many school resource officers they have and the authority they have within their buildings, including how and when they're allowed to use force.

"If a school district invites a police officer onto its campus, let's ensure the community can outline what can and can't happen and make it public," Crosson said.

That information is already available in some districts. In Anoka-Hennepin, for example, the district's contract with the Anoka County Sheriff's Office outlines how deputies are required to build relationships with students and coordinate investigations with staff.

When the sheriff's office and the police departments that provide school resource officers suspended those programs, Chief Operating Officer Greg Cole says district officials had to find other ways to ensure their campuses were safe. In some schools, that meant working with a neighborhood police officer to establish relationships with administrators to provide a speedy response.

In others, the district hired security guards. District officials say the patchwork of solutions isn't sustainable because they can't guarantee who responds to schools' most extreme emergency calls. Regular patrol officers don't have pre-existing relationships with students and educators, Cole said, which makes it difficult for them to resolve conflict.

"When an officer is in a school, they have the benefit of time," Cole said. "They can have some patience with the situation that can oftentimes end in a better result for everybody involved. That's why we were disappointed these relationships had to change."