Minnesota DFL Rep Pushes Citizen Panels for Disciplining Police Officers

Cedrick Frazier

A Democrat Farm-Labor Party (DFL) member of the Minnesota House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would give private citizens power to oversee the police, and punish them for wrongdoing. 

“[Police Officer Standards and Training Board] (POST) directed to amend portable recording systems policy to require showing and releasing video; civilian oversight councils permitted by local governments to impose discipline on peace officers; citizen oversight councils required to provide information to POST,” says HF 2724, introduced by Rep. Cedric Frazier (DFL-District 45A). 

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Nashville’s Community Oversight Board Submits Hiring Recommendations of Increased Diversity, Implicit Bias History to Metro Nashville Police Department

Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board’s (COB) submitted their hiring recommendations, including diversity increases and bias history requirements, on Friday. 

The COB made the decision to adopt and formally submit the report to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) during their meeting last Wednesday. 

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Tennessee Senate Reschedules Bill Requiring Police Oversight Boards to Undergo Citizen Police Academy, Will Vote Monday

The Tennessee Senate is scheduled on Monday to vote on whether local community oversight boards must undergo citizen police academy.

If passed, current community oversight board members will have until June 30 of next year to complete a citizen police academy or any similar program. After that, any members appointed after July 1 of this year will have one year. Any members who fail to complete the academy or similar program will have their voting powers revoked. Voting rights would be restored upon completion of the academy. 

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Nominations to Serve on Nashville’s Controversial Police Oversight Board Expected to Increase As Deadline Approaches

Nominations to serve on Nashville’s new police oversight board are due in two weeks. While a handful of people have come forward, numerous community groups plan to submit more names, and across a wide spectrum, Nashville Public Radio says. Several organizations that fought to create the board say they’re preparing nominees, and if there are dozens of names, the Metro Council could hold special meetings to vet them before voting in an 11-person panel before the end of January. “If there are a lot of names, then we will figure out how to winnow that down,” said Theeda Murphy with Community Oversight Now, which advocated for the board’s creation. But even opponents, like the Fraternal Order of Police, are considering who could represent their views. President James Smallwood acknowledged that the board doesn’t allow current law enforcement to serve. “Former law enforcement, people that understand the law — so those would be attorneys — people that are or have been exposed to the way that officers are trained,” Smallwood said. One day after the vote, Smallwood said in an emailed statement it’s important this coming board not exclude the perspectives of law enforcement officers, The Tennessee Star reported. As reported,…

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OFF THE RECORD: Who Paid Expenses For Promoters of Nashville Police Oversight Board to Attend Organizing Conference in Florida?

At the end of September, “Community Oversight Now – Nashville,” the Coalition which succeeded in bringing the question of a civilian community oversight board to a referendum as part of the November 6 ballot, posted their travel plans for October. Some or all of the Coalition’s leftist member groups were traveling to Florida to attend the annual conference of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). This is an organization that claims to have “professionalized” the business of lay people pretending they know more or at least enough, to decide whether cops are doing their jobs according to the law. Or at least judge a police officer’s actions according to what Black Lives Matter says is the way policing should be carried out. What’s not known about the Florida radicals’ junket, is who footed the bill, how many and from which Coalition member group attended the NACOLE conference? NACOLE is one of the organizations that was included in Obama’s White House task force that came up with 63 recommendations for how local police departments can make themselves better liked by the communities they serve, including the criminals who have guns. It also includes the assassins who, without direct provocation,…

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Nashville’s November Ballot Legislation Can Undermine Tennessee’s New Anti-Sanctuary City Law

On November 6th, Davidson County voters will decide whether to accept “Amendment #1” and establish a $1.5 million civilian board to oversee the city’s police department. The proposed legislation would establish a Community Oversight Board (COB) with very broad disciplinary authority over the Metro Nashville Police Department. If the charter amendment is approved by voters, an unelected board of community activists will also be authorized to recommend policy changes for the police department and other “agencies involved in public safety and the administration of justice.” Broad and vague language vesting the COB with input into law enforcement policy may well result in  undermining Tennessee’s enhanced anti-sanctuary city law passed by the state General Assembly session during the last session. Notably, per Amendment #1, a Davidson County resident’s illegal immigration status does not disqualify an illegal alien from serving on the board. Asked to review Amendment #1 posted on the Davidson County Election Commission website, Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) confirmed to The Tennessee Star that: there is nothing in the language that would preclude illegal aliens from serving on the review board. We find it highly objectionable that people whose very presence in the community…

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