Citing safety, Minnesota DFL lawmakers push to ban ‘no-knock’ warrants

Christopher Magan, Pioneer Press
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Minnesota Democrats are renewing their push to ban no-knock warrants after legislation stalled in previous years under politically divided government.

“Is the pursuit of justice worth death if it is avoidable?” Rep. Brion Curran, DFL-Vadnais Heights, asked her colleagues on the House public safety committee. The panel debated and advanced Curran’s bill banning no-knock warrants Wednesday evening on an 8-5 vote.

Curran, a former police officer, described no-knock warrants — when police enter a premises unannounced — as dangerous for everyone involved. She said there are better ways to conduct searches, even when there is the threat of violence or the risk of losing evidence.

“This is about our right to know for certain that when someone enters your home unannounced, you don’t need to second-guess if that person might be a police officer,” Curran said.

Several Republicans on the committee disagreed with the proposal, including Rep. Paul Novotny, R-Elk River, a law enforcement officer, who said while they are rare, no-knock warrants are “an important tool.” Minnesota law enforcement advocacy groups also are opposed to the change.

Banning no-knock warrants is one of the public safety reforms DFLers have pushed in the wake of several Black men being killed by police. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party now has a trifecta of control of state government with narrow majorities in the House and Senate and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has signaled support for the measure.

What does the bill do?

Under the proposal, Minnesota courts would be prohibited from issuing no-knock warrants. The legislation would not affect federal law enforcement officers executing federal warrants in the state.

Under the proposed change, police would have to announce themselves and wait for “a reasonable amount of time” for subjects to the “become alert and able to comply” before entering the premises.

These types of warrants are already very rare, with only 105 executed in 2021, according to a recent state report.

Why ban no-knock warrants?

Andre Locke, whose son Amir was shot to death by Minneapolis police serving a no-knock warrant, testified in support of the change.

“We’ve seen over and over again, across the country ways in which these raids result in unnecessary damage, injury and death,” Locke said. “We call on our leaders to do the right thing and eliminate or significantly restrict this militaristic approach to policing in our communities.”

Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man, was killed by Minneapolis police during the execution of a no-knock warrant in February 2022 at an apartment where he was sleeping on the couch. Locke was asleep under a blanket and sat up with a gun in his hand as police burst in; he was shot three times, including twice in the chest, within seconds.

Locke was not mentioned in the warrant police were executing, but his cousin was a suspect in a St. Paul homicide. Police requested a typical “knock and announce” warrant, but Minneapolis officers who served the warrant requested the “no-knock” provision.

Minneapolis greatly restricted the use of no-knock warrants after Amir Locke’s death but no one was charged with his killing. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he didn’t think it could be proven in court that officers broke the law and he called for comprehensive policing reforms.

“My son Amir Locke’s life mattered,” Andre Locke said at the hearing. “Minneapolis police, without warning, denied my son the ability to assess the situation and disarm himself.”

Stakeholder feedback

The Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, and the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association wrote in opposition to the bill.

Their letter said the legislation would “limit the ability to protect those executing the lawful search warrant or the public while jeopardizing the preservation of potentially relevant investigative evidence.”

The advocacy groups also said that warrants are already vetted by judges and no-knock warrants are only used when needed.

The National Tactical Officers Association said in February 2022 that it was in support of the ban. “No-knock search warrants, though well intended, no longer pass the test of tactical science, risk mitigation practices and liability-conscious decision-making,” the organization said in statement.

The legislation is expected to be debated next in the House civil law committee.

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