The State of Minnesota, working with law enforcement and community stakeholders, should review the existing use-of-force standards and statutes and recommend any revisions necessary to ensure there is a focus on the sanctity of life, as well as standards that require that the use-of-force be reasonable, necessary, and proportionate.

EPPD Actions

No action required of the EPPD.

All police agencies should adopt use-of-force policies that, at a minimum:

• Make sanctity of life a core organizational value.
• Require officers to de-escalate when such effort does not compromise officer safety.
• Require force used by officers to be reasonable, necessary, and proportionate.
• Hold officers accountable to use sound tactics, such as time, distance, and cover, to reduce
  the need to use force.
• Require officers to intervene, when appropriate and safe, when witnessing unreasonable
  use of force.
• Require officers to report all incidents of unreasonable use of force to a supervisor.

EPPD Actions

Many of the recommended use-of-force policies are covered by Directive 8.01: Deadly Force in the Eden Prairie Police Department Policy Manual [PDF].

The Department of Public Safety and Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST) shall convene focus groups and experts to discuss strategies to increase the role of the POST Board to approve, suspend, or revoke officer licenses at the Chief Law Enforcement Officer’s request in order to strengthen accountability and transparency of officers who violate State standards.

EPPD Actions

No action required of the EPPD.

Establish a data-collection and reporting system that tracks all police-involved deadly force encounters.

EPPD Actions

No action required of the EPPD.

All law enforcement agencies should institute a policy that mandates officers to render immediate medical aid to gunshot victims, including those injured during an officer-involved shooting, as soon as safely possible.

EPPD Actions

All Eden Prairie Police officers are certified EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) and required to carry a tourniquet, bandage and airway management device. Oxygen bags and First Aid kits are in all squad cars. Directive 8.01: Deadly Force from the Eden Prairie Police Department Policy Manual [PDF] requires officers to render first aid to a person injured in police custody.

All law enforcement agencies should implement an Early Intervention Program (EIP) for officers and dispatchers that is designed to identify problem behaviors at the earliest possible stage so that intervention and support can be offered in a non-disciplinary manner.

EPPD Actions

Officer candidates must pass a psychological exam prior to receiving an offer of employment. In 2020, the Eden Prairie Police Department implemented a Check-up from the Neck Up program for all sworn officers and civilian staff, requiring annual attendance at a counseling session with a mental health professional. More details are available in Directive 5.07: Mental Health Check-In from the Eden Prairie Police Department Policy Manual [PDF].

The Legislature should pass a carefully crafted privacy protection (protected conversations) for peer-support programs for first responders, modeled after other state model policies that protect therapeutic debriefings and individual counseling sessions led by certified peer counselors.

EPPD Actions

No action required of the EPPD.

Law enforcement agencies should adopt data practices that promote transparency, openness, and accountability. This includes collecting, analyzing, translating, and publishing data to create clear and accurate knowledge about the nature of police-community interactions, use of force, and police-involved deadly force encounters.

EPPD Actions

A Community Crime Map is available on the City website. Police officers provide Data Practices informational cards to crime victims.