New way to fight gangs is unveiled

Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety Michael Campion and Gov. Tim Pawlenty want to equip 500 squad cars -- all the primary police patrol vehicles in the state -- with sophisticated video cameras in an effort to deter racially biased policing.

Campion said Pawlenty had signed off on the idea to use $2.5 million in federal highway money to outfit squad cars throughout the state. He said the idea grew out of an investigation that Campion ordered of the Metro Gang Strike Force this year.

The investigation found that minorities were most often the target when the now-disbanded Strike Force conducted police "saturations" of neighborhoods. Groups of officers swept through neighborhoods, taking pictures of people who were not necessarily gang members, and scrolling through their cell phones.

"This is not a complete solution to any problem," said Campion in an interview, "but it's a very good policy initiative that I think ensures people's civil rights and also creates real evidence of what happened at a particular stop."

Campion said that Pawlenty will propose to the Legislature a plan to use a portion of the forfeited money that has been seized by law enforcement agencies across the state for funding technological improvements to keep the video equipment current.

Saying the Strike Force's alleged misdeeds hurt all of law enforcement, Campion also proposed a new management structure for crime task forces in the Twin Cities, one that he said would prevent the squabbling that plagued the members of the Force's advisory board. Campion cited the infighting as a major reason that the force's "egregious" behavior was allowed to continue.

The investigation ordered by Campion found that some Strike Force members failed to properly conduct and document seizures and took seized property home.

Andrew Luger, a former assistant U.S. attorney appointed by Campion to investigate the Strike Force, also reported that members of the force targeted minorities and undocumented people during seizures of cash and property. While noting that most people the force went after were minorities, he declined to call it racial profiling.

Campion said the new task force model -- he wants fewer task forces in the Twin Cities but it was unclear how many there would be -- would focus on major crime rather than specifically on gangs and drugs, and would be overseen by a "Metropolitan Policy and Oversight Board." He said he envisions a representative from the U.S. Attorney's office and possibly a citizen's representative on the board.

An experienced criminal prosecutor would report to the oversight board and propose the overall direction of the task forces' work. The proposal did not include many details about the makeup of the task force or forces. Hennepin County, for example, already has several task forces, and any that receive funding from the Public Safety department would come under Campion's new oversight board.

The current Strike Force advisory board, which is wrapping up details and planning to go out of business at year's end, was primarily made up of local sheriffs, police chiefs or their designees. Under the new plan, Campion said, the state associations of police chiefs, sheriffs and county attorneys would each nominate a representative to the board.

Campion's proposals came partly in a news release and partly in testimony before a joint hearing of four committees of the state House and Senate that met Wednesday. He expanded on his plans in an interview afterward.

Campion said the governor was enthusiastic about the camera proposal.

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said his department is in the process of choosing camera equipment for patrol cars, but that current funding would only allow for outfitting 10 to 20 percent of patrol cars. He said he supports Campion's idea.

"That would be a great step forward in preventing misconduct," Harrington said. He said he also raised with Campion the idea of providing "body cams" on police officers. He said they'd be useful in community policing and handling domestic calls. Cameras are in a significant number of Minneapolis police cars.

Campion told the legislative hearing that "the Strike Force failed due to the dysfunction of the advisory board. This dysfunction was caused by rivalries and squabbling among its component member agencies. The weak advisory board resulted in the selection and continued support of an ineffective Strike Force commander."

Asked in an interview who he was referring to on the board, Campion said that Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and he "had disagreements with management of the Metro Gang Strike Force. Fletcher and I did not see eye to eye." Fletcher could not be reached for comment.

Campion said a way to deal with squabbling would be to have only one sheriff and one police chief on the board. Harrington said he backs that idea.

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said he met with Campion on Tuesday and discussed the proposals. Stanek said, "They have some merit." He said he also discussed his own plans for task forces in his county, and Campion "gave thumbs up."

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan could not be reached for comment.

In other news, the Strike Force was accused of breaking into a home in north Minneapolis, pointing guns at several children, kicking their mother and ransacking the house in a raid two years ago, according to a new lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by Minneapolis Attorney Rocky Chrastil.

A warrant and memorandum signed by Hennepin County sheriff's deputy Terry Bean said a reliable confidential informant saw marijuana in the house and bought some from someone outside the house. But when the Strike Force searched the house, no drugs were found and no one was arrested, Chrastil said.

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382