police

The official story is that anyone can walk into St. Paul police headquarters and view the footage from the 100-plus cameras monitoring downtown and the Central Corridor for crime. The official story also says that the cameras are monitored by police in the Western District station (on Hamline Avenue) and in the central St. Paul police headquarters. Actually, on a recent day, no one seemed to be watching and the public monitor did not work at all. MORE »

by Eleanor Arnason, September 18, 2008 • I have been doing more research on the Internet. This is from the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota student newspaper:

Hey, someone’s been eating my constitutional rights!

After St. Paul announced last week that a man named Heffelfinger would review law enforcement during the Republican National Convention, a local TV station trumpeted what would seem to be Goldilocks’ view on the matter. MORE »

Mayor R.T. Rybak announced this afternoon that Minneapolis would conduct a series of reviews into the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) actions in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention, including a standard “after-action report” that will look into related security measures and the development of new policies for dealing with the media. A City Council member who has urged a blue-ribbon, multijurisdictional review said the mayor’s statement was “good” but appeared to fall short of “a public, independent, transparent process.” MORE »

Various Twin Cities elected officials have responded to the raids leading up to the RNC, as well as the protests and police actions throughout the convention. In a written statement Minneapolis City Council members Cam Gordon and Elizabeth Glidden urge the use of nonviolent practices to resolve RNC related tension; Representative Keith Ellison speaks with journalist Amy Goodman about the treatment of journalists by Minneapolis and Ramsey County Police officers; and St. Paul Council member Dave Thune reacts to the Ramsey County Sheriff raids in St. Paul the weekend preceding the RNC. MORE »

I’m chickenshit and it tears me up. I feel the need to show solidarity and to take action through marching in some of the protest rallies this week. But fear keeps me from it. Zealous police actions steer me from it. Paranoia could destroy ya’ – so I avoid it. MORE »

The subject of profiling, the practice of weighing someone’s guilt or innocence based on the way they look or act, is bandied about a lot these days. Some people think it’s a perfectly acceptable practice when carried out by law enforcement. After walking into two profiling situations today I’m convinced of its dangers, not only to the victims but also the perpetrators. MORE »

Police Chiefs John Harrington (St. Paul), Tim Dolan (Minneapolis) and John Laux (Bloomington) met with around 70 community residents August 19 at St. Paul’s Martin Luther King/Hallie Q. Brown Recreation Center to discuss criminal justice issues and concerns. The event was hosted by the Council on Black Minnesotans (CBM). MORE »