MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The above video first aired on Feb. 9, 2022.
The Minneapolis Police Department's no-knock warrant policy is going further under the microscope in the wake of the fatal shooting of Amir Locke.
On Monday, the city's Civil Rights Department Office of Police Conduct Review (OCPR) announced it will be conducting a special review following Locke's death at the hands of an MPD officer, focusing on identifying and recommending specific changes and improvements to existing policy.
“First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the tragic death of Mr. Amir Locke,” Interim Civil Rights Director Alberder Gillespie said in a released statement. “Amir’s life mattered. There are no words to express the depths of our sympathy for Mr. Locke’s family and loved ones.”
OPCR does not have the legal authority to conduct a criminal investigation, that will be carried out by another body. City ordinance does task the review board with assuring residents that MPD is delivering services in a lawful and nondiscriminatory way.
Along with conducting a thorough review of MPD's no-knock policy, OPCR is also responsible for investigating complaints of officer misconduct, which is a separate process from this review and takes place independently.
To ensure the integrity of the review and any related investigations, no more information on the probe will be released or shared until it is legally permissible.
“I am fully supportive of Interim Director Gillespie’s vision and quick action in mobilizing the Office of Police Conduct Review to pursue this work and I trust we’ll have a stronger process for it,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press release. “This important review will complement our engagement with external experts to provide needed clarity around the impacts of these policies for both community and officers.”
For more on the Minneapolis Office of Police Conduct Review, check out the city's website.
Records released last week show the department requested both conventional and no-knock warrants to search three units of the Bolero Flats Apartments in downtown Minneapolis. SWAT officers were looking for a 17-year-old named Mehki Speed in connection with a St. Paul homicide. Nowhere in those warrants was the name of Amir Locke, who is Speed's cousin.
Mayor Jacob Frey has proposed a temporary ban on both issuing and carrying out no-knock warrants in the city as officials consult with national experts, while DFL lawmakers at the state capitol are moving towards a more permanent ban.
Watch more Minnesota politics:
Watch the latest political coverage from the Land of 10,000 Lakes in our YouTube playlist: