EAGAN, MINN. Police departments in Eagan and White Bear Lake are putting school resource officers back in local school buildings.
The Eagan Police Department said in a social media post, “We are happy to announce we’ve reinstated our S-R-O program and look forward to working alongside staff and students in School District 196!”
White Bear Lake officials said officers returned to schools in the district Friday.
Brooklyn Park Police said they “will not be sending SROs back” to schools, following a new legal interpretation from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
At issue is a new law about what type of force school resource officers can use on students, and when. Departments are worried it opened up resource officers to legal trouble.
The controversy appeared to be resolved last week when Attorney General Keith Ellison clarified that SROs are able to use force as long as the force is reasonable. This satisfied the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which thanked leaders for “finding a temporary solution to return SROs back to Minnesota schools.”
Around 40 law enforcement agencies pulled their S-R-Os over a new law that restricts the types of restraint holds officers can use on students.
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