Parent of child assaulted in Minnesota high school fight says ‘safety of all kids’ in jeopardy without SROs

A parent who says her child was assaulted during a fight last Friday at Mankato East High School is speaking out about the need for school resource officers (SROs).

“SROs not being in the schools is not helpful to keeping students safe,” Nashawn Williams said. “I think that removing the SROs from the schools was really a bad idea. I understand the situation that the new laws place the SROs in, and I think it was a really bad idea.”

Mankato East High School went into lockdown Friday morning for about 30 minutes as police responded to the incident. A video of the fight shows Williams’ son on the ground as he is punched and kicked by other students, she said. The school is one of dozens across the state without an SRO on campus this fall in response to a new state law, which restricts the types of restraints that can be used on students who are acting illegally.

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Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association endorses Jensen for Governor

 The MPPOA is the largest association representing public safety professionals in the state.

The announcement was made in front of the ruins of the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct building which was set on fire in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.

Brian Peters, MPPOA executive director, made the following statement:

“There is only one candidate for governor that police trust to have their backs, and that is Dr. Scott Jensen. Minnesota has experienced out of control lawlessness under Tim Walz, and quite frankly, we’ve had enough. Dr. Jensen has put forward sensible proposals to restore safety to our communities and that’s why we’re supporting him for Governor.”

Brian Peters, MPOA executive director

Dr. Jensen also released a statement on the endorsement:

“Tim Walz has failed every Minnesotan in fulfilling the most important job of an elected official: ensuring public safety. The men and women who protect our communities daily understand this, and that’s why they are supporting my candidacy. I’m honored to have the endorsement of police officers across our state and when we win on November 8th, we’ll immediately work together to bring safe streets back to our neighborhoods.‘

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Officer staffing shortage prompts service changes for Alexandria Police Officers

Alexandria Police Chief Don Hayes shared new numbers on Friday about the staffing shortage his department is currently dealing with.

"We had at least five leave within the past week. One went to another agency. One retired. Two are getting out of the profession all together," the chief said. "A lot of of officers are leaving because they want to try something different."

Right now, APD's authorized force is 311 sworn officers. As of May 1, Hayes says they're down 20 officers. Plus, he says another 48 officers are currently on FMLA or restricted duty.

"So actually out of 311, we only have 243 officers available to put on the street and go to calls for service," he said.

The chief held a news conference on Friday morning to explain the service changes his department is now making as it copes with a reduction in manpower on the force.

"We are not reducing our calls for service," he said. "We are going to respond to every call for service, sometimes just differently. We are modifying the way we do that."

APD said some of those modifications include:

• Not responding to certain calls that may fall under another agency’s role unless the agency requests support
• Not responding to scenes that occurred earlier in which there is no danger to the public, no identifying suspects, or valuable investigative leads

"So what we did, we looked to identify non-emergency calls for service that other entities of the city can respond to. We've also worked to identify non-emergency calls that really don't require an in-person response," Hayes said.

A case of suspected credit card fraud, for instance, could now involve an officer taking a report by phone.

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Baltimore County Council will vote on police accountability board

TOWSON, Md. — A change in state law during last year's legislative session now means that each county in Maryland has to set up a board focused on improving relationships between police and the community.

There's a vote scheduled for Monday on what that board will look like in Baltimore County.

The board will be made up of nine residents from across the county who will work with law enforcement and local officials to make recommendations to improve policing here in Baltimore County.

Aside from forbidding police officers from serving on the board, specifics of membership, board powers and funding are left to the counties themselves. Each faces a July 1 deadline.

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