New unit in works to fight gangs and drugs

More than three months after the scandal-ridden Metro Gang Strike Force was shut down, authorities are planning a new unit to root out gangs, drugs and illegal guns in the Twin Cities, only this one would operate under federal guidelines and with federal funding to ease the cost to local agencies.

Still evolving plans call for the new unit to be named the Twin Cities Safe Streets Task Force and to have about 25 officers or agents overseen by a supervisory special agent of the FBI. According to B. Todd Jones, U.S. attorney for Minnesota, the plans, if approved by the U.S. Justice Department, probably will be officially unveiled within the next 30 days.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department in Washington has assumed responsibility for any prosecutions that may result from the FBI investigation into possible criminal activities of Strike Force members, according to Jones.

"It's not our case anymore," said Jones, who explained that Justice Department officials want to avoid any possible conflicts of interest.

He declined to specify what the conflicts could be, but former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug said Friday that it's common for prosecutors who work with local police to turn cases involving their possible misconduct over to prosecutors in another jurisdiction.

"If there are charges or there are not charges, people either way have more confidence in the outcome if they don't suspect that the investigators and those under investigation were too cozy," Lillehaug said.

Participating agencies in the newly created task force are expected to include the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments.

"We are enthusiastic about the potential for this," said Ralph Boelter, special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office. He said an FBI supervisor would oversee the unit, but members from participating law enforcement agencies would collaborate in choosing targets for investigation.

The FBI began an investigation in May into possible criminal misconduct by Strike Force members. Jones, who became U.S. attorney in August, said the Justice Department decided within the past two months that all decisions on prosecutions of former Strike Force members will be made by the Justice Department's public integrity section and/or civil rights division.

An investigation ordered by the state Department of Public Safety found a lack of oversight of the Strike Force and concluded that some of its members took home seized and forfeited property for their own use. The same investigation and media reports suggested that Strike Force targets frequently were minorities who were not gang members.

The FBI has 141 Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Forces in 34 states, though not in Minnesota. Boelter said that about six FBI agents would be assigned to the new local task force.

Not 'sole solution'

"My vision is that this is not going to be the sole solution to the gang problem in the Twin Cities, but it is going to be a component of it," Boelter said "All of the funding for equipment and training will come from the FBI. We'll pay for the overtime of task force officers and mange this component."

Michael Campion, state Pubic Safety commissioner, said he applauds the leadership of Jones and the FBI and that his office would commit two agents from the BCA to the task force. "I think Hennepin County and Ramsey County will play a role," he said, adding that the FBI is good at governance and oversight, which would avoid the kinds of problems the Strike Force had.

Campion also hopes to announce within a week a plan for funding other violent crime task forces within metro counties.

The Minneapolis Police Department plans to merge its 13-member Violent Offender Task Force into the new federal unit, said Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan, noting that the Minneapolis task force already works closely with federal agencies.

Joining the federal task force would have advantages, including nearly 100 percent funding for overtime, vehicles and equipment, Dolan said. That could run as high as $1 million, he said. "We don't see any risk in our participation," he said. "We are still developing the task force. If it's not working in the future, we will step back and go back to what was working for us before."

The St. Paul Police Department will commit six to nine officers but still maintain a gang unit, said Chief John Harrington. Being part of a federal task force gives the department resources to go after bigger fish that drive violence in the city, he said.

Unlike past joint operations with federal crime-fighting agencies, which focused mostly on drugs, this partnership gives the department an opportunity to go after gangs that deal in human trafficking and prostitution, Harrington said, adding: "This has a spectacular promise to be successful."

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said he had not been consulted about the new task force. Nonetheless, he said that it is "great if there is another task force that is going to reduce violent crime in our county."

Boelter said he envisioned that in the future, "the task force will service all of Hennepin and Ramsey counties, but budgetary and other considerations require that the task force be developed incrementally."

Jones said the new task force would be "intelligence driven," with information shared between agencies. Many details of how it will operate still must be worked out, he said.

One advantage of a federally driven program, Jones said, is that gangs can be investigated as criminal enterprises under federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations [RICO] statutes, using tools such as wiretaps.

The FBI website says its gang task force concept "expands cooperation and communication among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, increasing productivity and avoiding duplication of investigative efforts."

The "Enterprise Theory" of investigation, the FBI says, aims at prosecuting "the entire gang, from the street level thugs and dealers up through the crew leaders and ultimately the gang's command structure."

rfurst@startribune.com • 612-673-7382 dchanen@startribune.com • 612-673-4465