06-29-2020-SWS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 29, 2020 6 Mayor Grant asked the number of times they are in people's homes when they have a warrant. Undersheriff Ramacher responded that responding to a 911 call wouldn't involve a warrant, but other times they may have an arrest warrant. He said it is fairly rare to not announce themselves unless it would be more dangerous to the officer or there were tactical considerations. He felt about 90% of the time they announced themselves. Mayor Grant said there's been talk about reporting use of force and if deadly force is used that a database be created in order to look back on situations and trends. Does the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office keep any statistics on use of force by an officer? Undersheriff Ramacher said there is a policy that says any use of force should be documented promptly, completely and accurately in an appropriate report depending on the nature of the instance. The Deputy should articulate the factors perceived and why they believed the force was reasonable under the circumstance. They have a robust records management system purchased in 2015 that allows them to regularly document specific types of use of force. Beginning in 2021 all police departments will be federally mandated use the National Incident Based Recording System (NIBRS). They were one of the first 8 agencies in Minnesota to go to that system, and they've been using it for almost two years. He noted that use of force in the Sheriff's Department is fairly rare, as are complaints. Mayor Grant said he can attest that reports are lengthy and detailed. He asked if they could run a report by a particular level of force and also by officer. Undersheriff Ramacher indicated he would have to speak to the commander in charge of records management to see if they can search by officer. But types of force can be reported. Mayor Grant asked if they could get back with the answer to reports by officer. Councilmember Holden asked how they know if they have an officer that has been reprimanded for excessive force. Undersheriff Ramacher explained there were two different things they were talking about, one was if they received a complaint on an officer for unreasonable use of force — that would go through internal affairs with an investigation conducted. Officers use force in various ways every day, whether it's an escort hold to walk to a squad car, handcuffing, displaying a taser etc. When reading reports and evaluating calls they review what is appropriate, along with body cam footage. When an officer is using reasonable force appropriately there's no reason to hold that against them and make a list of that happening. When it crosses into being unreasonable, things change. They have an inspector that is tasked with reviewing every use of force and making an official determination on whether that use of force was reasonable or not. That has been done informally for years but they wanted to be more accountable. Councilmember McClung asked what is the policy of when the officers have to have their body camera activated.