HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 05-18 Law enforcement flexes muscle at Minnesota's Capitol STAR TRIBUNE5/19/2016
Law enforcement is flexing its muscle at Minnesota Capitol - StarTribune.com
POLITICS
Law enforcement flexes muscle at
Minnesota Capitol
Police groups' influence over legislative process on display with key
bills.
By Maya Rao (http://www.startribune.com/maya-rao/137958973/) Star Tribune
MAY 18, 2016 — 10:26PM
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell was the first to give testimony on a measure that
creates restrictive new rules for police departments using body cameras. Sitting
alongside GOP state Rep. Tony Cornish, a retired cop, he gave a brief statement
supporting the proposal.
Over the next three hours, a parade of testifiers came before a recent House's civil law
committee to oppose the measure, many saying it would greatly limit public access to
the footage. Then the panel voted overwhelming to support the measure, 11-2.
"You had hour after hour of testimony against the bill ... and it didn't mean a thing,"
said Don Gemberling, an open -government advocate and critic of the more restrictive
proposal.
The fervent campaign to restrict the body camera measure is a sign of the rising clout
that law enforcement officials have at the State Capitol, but which is also drawing critics
who say the influence is excessive.
Law enforcement lobbyists say their political potency is overstated, noting a string of
high-profile losses, like their failed push for broader background checks on firearm
purchases.
"We try to develop relationships with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, and I think
we're fortunate in that most of the legislators want to certainly hear our message," said
police lobbyist Dennis Flaherty, who is executive director of the Minnesota Police and
Peace Officers Association (MPPOA).
Gemberling, of the law enforcement coalition, sees it another way: "They not only ran us
over, they trampled us."
`David and Goliath'
St. Paul DFL Rep. John Lesch, who voted against the proposal, said Gemberling gave it
"the college try and had some good ideas, but in reality it's David and Goliath."
Law enforcement groups have advocated on a variety of measures at the Capitol in
recent years, ranging from allowing cops to retain license plate reader scans to blocking
an expansion of fireworks sales. They also helped shape one of the most restrictive
medical marijuana laws in the country.
Ben Feist, a lobbyist for the ACLU, said his organization has had more frustrations
dealing with civil liberties issues this session than it has in the last three or four.
"I can't help but think the fact that all of the members are up for re-election has
something to do with that," he said.
Feist, who testified against the body camera bill, said police groups have a "tremendous
amount of influence" in most of the legislation his organization deals with.
He's advocated for proposals that would require police to obtain warrants to do
targeted surveillance with aerial drones, but said they weren't moving forward because
legislators wanted agreement from law enforcement.
Feist said the ACLU also worked on legislation to allow spouses to recover civilly
forfeited assets from police, but couldn't get a public hearing, along with another
measure closing a loophole that allows authorities to access e-mail saved through Gmail
(http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/ows_1463625445789
ELIZABETH FLORES
Police organizations fought for restrictive new
rules for departments using body cameras.
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5/19/2016 Law enforcement is flexing its muscle at Minnesota Capitol - StarTribune.com
accounts for over six months without a warrant.
"There are not a lot of lawmakers who are interested in pushing back too hard against
law enforcement for the simple fact that they don't want to be seen as soft on crime,"
Feist said.
The House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee includes several members with law
enforcement backgrounds. Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL -Brooklyn Center, and Rep. Dave
Pinto, DFL -St Paul, are prosecutors; Rep. Dan Schoen, DFL -Cottage Grove, is a police
officer; and Rep. Brian Johnson, R -Cambridge, is a retired deputy sheriff. Cornish, the
sponsor of the House body camera bill and a Republican from Vernon Center, recently
retired as a police officer and still has family members in law enforcement.
Flaherty said "it certainly has got to be helpful" to the MPPOA's cause to have people in
law enforcement on the committee that is considering the legislation.
"They can use their experience to help them educate themselves, and I'm sure that they
probably have some influence on other members in the committee," he said.
Like many lobbying groups at the Capitol, MPPOA endorses candidates and makes
campaign contributions during election seasons. Flaherty said he's repeatedly told
members of the association to run for political office.
Andy Skoogman said that it's important for the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association,
which was also involved with the body camera bill, to be part of the legislative process.
But influence is the wrong word, he said, adding that it has a negative connotation.
He said the association has seen a dozen items this session of interest to law
enforcement "that have gone nowhere," including broader criminal background checks
on gun sales.
After the Senate passed body camera legislation, it appeared stalled in the House. Rep.
Peggy Scott, R -Andover, did not schedule a hearing on the measure in the Civil Law and
Data Practices Committee she chairs. But she was forced to move forward with it after
her own proposal, which gave citizens more control over body cameras and the footage,
failed to win support in her caucus and with law enforcement.
Lesch said opponents of the body camera legislation didn't realize the battle was already
over.
"As if it was going to be decided based on what was said at that committee," he said.
Rich Neumeister, an open -government advocate who spoke against the body camera
legislation, said law enforcement displayed immense power in that debate.
"Who can counterpunch?" he asked.
Recalling the body camera hearing, he said, "It was like Tony Cornish was the dummy
and the ventriloquist was law enforcement."
Some compromises
But law enforcement officials have accepted some compromises. For instance,
legislators last week removed a controversial provision allowing police to redact their
own images when releasing body camera videos.
Cornish disputed the assertion that law enforcement had any outsized influence or got
everything it wanted.
"They just come up and present the facts," he said. "I think the influence they have is just
the fact that they don't sensationalize anything."
maya.rao@startribune.com 651-925-5043
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