Ex-Gang Strike Force officer fired by Minneapolis

While state legislators grappled Tuesday with how to repair damage from the Metro Gang Strike Force scandal, the Minneapolis Police Department quietly fired an officer for his role in the seizure of cell phones during a Strike Force raid this year.

Chief Tim Dolan approved the firing of David Garman, according to three well-placed sources. The termination makes Garman the first Strike Force member to lose his job since reports began to percolate this spring about improper seizures of property and other alleged misconduct by the now-disbanded unit.

Dolan also was weighing a recommendation by an internal disciplinary panel to give 40-hour suspensions to two other Minneapolis officers on the Strike Force who were involved in the raid, the sources said.

A former Strike Force member linked to misconduct allegations resigned last month. Two other force members who are deputies with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office were suspended this month, one for 25 days, the other for 10.

The FBI is conducting a criminal inquiry, and police department internal affairs units are continuing investigations of six officers in Minneapolis and five in St. Paul.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers met for two hours Tuesday, mostly grilling state Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion on several issues, including how he proposes to fight gangs in the Twin Cities.

Campion said he plans to meet with sheriffs and police chiefs next week and said he will come back to the legislative leaders with more details.

But Campion said any new gang and drug task forces won't be "stand-alone" entities like the Strike Force. He said that under his proposal, any task force would be under the direct jurisdiction of a sheriff's office, police department "or some combination."

He also repeated his position that the seven-county metro area has too many crime task forces, and "we need to pare that number down and be more effective in our sharing of information and our collaboration."

The department currently funds seven gang and drug task forces in the Twin Cities but has informed them that they are not to apply for funds for next year until Campion has a new plan in place.

Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, said she hoped the plans would be disclosed soon. "We feel there is some urgency," she said.

There was no mention during the hearing of discipline against former members of the Strike Force, which is outside Campion's purview. The Strike Force was a multi-jurisdictional unit, and its officers could be disciplined only by their home departments.

Sources said Garman, who was fired Tuesday, and three other Strike Force officers were involved in a raid on a crack house this year. Officers found drugs and seized at least three cell phones, the sources said. A fourth Minneapolis officer on the force involved in the case used the phones.

An internal affairs investigation found evidence that Garman and the two officers helped cover up the cell phone use, the sources said.

Garman couldn't be reached for comment.

Fund authority questioned

Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, said the advisory board that oversaw the Strike Force should be shut down, just as the Strike Force was. Campion said that "to the best of our ability to influence them," he will do so.

At the recommendation of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger, who issued a report in August on wrongdoing by the Strike Force, Campion had planned to seek appointment of a special master to review the unit's files and return improperly seized money and property. But the state attorney general's office concluded that Campion lacks authority to go that route.

Instead, a plan was developed in which people could get their money back by calling a phone hot line, organized through a trust fund operated by the League of Minnesota Cities, Campion told lawmakers. An administrative law judge would hear appeals, if needed.

However, several legislators said they believed the trust fund lacked legal authority to disperse the funds.

But in an interview after the hearing, Kori Land, an attorney for the Strike Force advisory board, said plans for the hot line would go forward. She said the authority for doing so came from the insurance contract the advisory board had with the league. She said the FBI told her that returning the funds in this manner would not prejudice its investigation.

She said the advisory board must continue to meet. "It has business that it still needs to conduct before it shuts the lights off," she said.

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382 David Chanen • 612-673-4485