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At Metro Transit, fighting crime and disciplining officers
Along with rising crime over the past few years, Metro Transit in Minneapolis and St. Paul has wrestled with one other problem: Having to discipline its police officers for misconduct, at a time when the number of officers available to fight crime has dropped. ... Continue Reading
Kenneth Dahlberg, his high-profile Minnesota friends, and a long ago accident
A half century ago, many of Minnesota's most influential citizens -- including two U.S. Senators, the governor and several prominent bankers -- lined up to praise a high-level local businessman and ignored his role in an auto accident that killed four teenagers. ... Continue Reading
Records: Police now legally fly drones lots of places, including into bedrooms
The police drone flew into a second-floor apartment unit in Eagan and searched for a burglary suspect, an example of how police in Minnesota are legally pushing the boundaries on the use of drones. Records document drone usage in three Minnesota cities, Eagan, Edina and Rochester, that state records show have been aggressive in deploying drones without a search warrant. ... Continue Reading
At the U of M, critics see a tepid response to a conflict of interest
Documents show that even after President Joan Gabel left the university – she announced her resignation less than four months after the controversy began – school officials have walked a fine line between defending what happened and convincing critics that policy changes have been made to alleviate future problems. ... Continue Reading
With new law, police in Minnesota increasingly flying drones without a search warrant
Four years ago, legislators and civil liberties advocates in Minnesota hailed a new state law that for the first time regulated the emerging use of drones by law enforcement agencies. But the legislation, in a move that left some officials uneasy, also did something else: It allowed law enforcement to use drones without a search warrant in nine specific instances ... Continue Reading
In tiny Prinsburg, an abortion debate left bruises
Documents and interviews show how some town officials, even months after unanimously rejecting the anti-abortion ordinance, continued to distance themselves from what had occurred. Miller, a former state legislator, said the city "threw me under the bus as a scapegoat" and accused the city of siding with the "wicked, evil" Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. ... Continue Reading