Legislators to their credit are off to a running start in addressing the Metro Gang Strike Force implosion, offering up solutions in advance of the legislative session that include tightening state forfeiture laws and strengthening oversight of the improved gang-fighting effort to come.

But so far, they've neglected to ask a key question as they begin shaping the next-generation entity: Is it acceptable to merely pay lip service to the idea of a multijurisdictional gang-fighting strategy? Or is Minnesota better served by an approach that rises above old law enforcement rivalries and truly embraces cooperation?

In December, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion submitted his proposal for combatting gangs after abuses by rogue officers led to last year's dismantling of the Strike Force. The plan is a decent start but has a serious flaw. It doesn't fix the interagency feuding that contributed to the old Strike Force's demise; instead, it surrenders to it.

The $5.8 million proposal, sent to lawmakers on Dec. 14, calls for five county-based violent crime enforcement teams in the metro -- Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, Dakota and Washington -- funded by local and state dollars. A statewide group would then analyze gang crime information from each team and share it with the others.

This isn't the innovative, force-multiplying approach to crimefighting needed in the wake of the Strike Force debacle. Instead, this part of the plan offers up a disappointingly conventional and piecemeal strategy. It simply divides up the metro along old boundaries and allows Hennepin and Ramsey counties -- whose sheriffs' dislike for each other is legendary -- to go their separate ways.

In doing so, the plan enforces law enforcement's tribal allegiances rather than addressing the dysfunction they created at the old Strike Force. Paranoia reached pathological levels at the agency's former New Brighton headquarters. Fear that politicians and rival police officials were out to destroy the agency contributed to the survival-at-all-costs mentality that created harmful chaos. Lines of authority were ignored because supervisors were from a rival agency. It also led some to seize innocent people's cash and belongings.

Rivalries between law enforcement agencies are hardly unique to Minnesota. People with strong personalities are attracted to the profession, and they're needed. This isn't an easy job. But after the Strike Force meltdown, the state has an obligation to pioneer a new, innovative model to transcend this age-old problem. It's a lofty goal that will take an incredible amount of work by Campion and lawmakers. Fortunately, they are up to the task, as their willingness to tackle the problem indicates. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, on whose desk any next-generation Strike Force bill will land, should also insist on a stronger multijurisdictional approach before signing.

A key part of the work ahead involves holding Twin Cities law enforcement officials to their word. Authorities here and elsewhere have long said that multi-jurisdictional approaches are needed because crime spills beyond geographic boundaries. If Twin Cities law enforcement really believes this, now's the time to step up. Practical solutions are needed to enable officers to pull together and work outside their comfort zones. Officers who truly understand the damage done to their entire profession by the failed Strike Force will embrace this opportunity and assist Campion and lawmakers in the difficult task ahead.