SROs, school districts seek clarification on legislation regarding student restraint

Gabriel, a high school student, was only a fifth grader and weighed less than 100 pounds when a school resource officer (SRO) put him in a prone restraint, holding his knees down on the boy’s upper back.

“My chest was compressed to the ground making it harder for me to breathe and take in air,” he told lawmakers in the House Education Policy Committee on Feb. 12. “Although I’ll never forget, I’m just glad to be here today knowing that some didn’t make it.”

A law passed last year that banned the use of restraints on students by SROs and school district employees, like the one used on Gabriel, prompted dozens of police agencies to pull their officers out of schools, calling the statute unclear on when officers could use force. Proposed legislation from DFLers Rep. Cedrick Frazier in the House and Sen. Bonnie Westlin in the Senate aims to provide that clarity. 

But Gabriel, along with several other students, parents and advocates, are calling on lawmakers to leave the law as is and maintain the restrictions on the use of the restraints by officers in schools.

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Aim for clarification

House File 3489 attempts to clarify the legislation passed last year, which prohibits a school district employee, including school resource officers, from putting a student in a restraint that restricts their breathing, ability to communicate distress or puts weight down on a student’s head, neck, throat, chest or back.

When introducing the bill in the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee on Tuesday, Frazier invoked the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin as necessary context with which the bill is being introduced.

“Many folks, when they envision a prone restraint, they are envisioning, in fact, that incident, that interaction that took the life of George Floyd,” Frazier said during the hearing Tuesday. “This bill will address when prone restraints can be used, in what manner and provides clear, clear guidance on that so there will be no questions moving forward.”

The statute, which builds on a 2015 law that banned the use of the holds on students with disabilities, caused widespread concern among law enforcement agencies ahead of the start of the school year this past summer. Though Attorney General Keith Ellison issued an opinion stating the law didn’t change when officers could use force, they argued an interpretation of the law severely limited officer discretion, and opened officers up to potential excessive force lawsuits. 

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At least 40 law enforcement agencies pulled their officers out of schools in September, according to a count by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, though many returned after Ellison’s clarification. 

Wright County Sheriff Sean Deringer, who supervises 14 SROs assigned to 10 districts across the county, told lawmakers in the Tuesday, Feb. 13, hearing that he considered pulling the officers from the county’s schools. After reviewing use of force incidents during the previous school year, the sheriff found three incidents that “may have been questionable given the parameters of the new law.”

That said, Deringer ultimately decided to leave the officers in the schools, but, he said, confusion around the new law continues to affect how SROs respond to incidents in schools, citing two incidents in the last two weeks.

“It is because of the confusion caused by last year’s legislation that have tied the hands of our SROs,” Deringer said. “Earlier intervention by the SROs could have resulted in far less disruption to the school and a more dignified outcome for both of these young students.”

The new bill would remove language that put restrictions on when school resource officers and other contracted security could use certain holds on students. It also mandates that schools enter into contracts with law enforcement agencies that provide SROs, and that officers receive training specific to working in schools. 

The proposal tasks the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Board with developing a model policy for school resource officers to create uniformity in their conduct statewide as well, requiring the board to engage schools, law enforcement, local governments, youth and community organizations in the process. 

Concerns with the fix

Solutions Not Suspensions, a coalition of students, parents, teachers and advocates, held a news conference and testified in both the House Education and Public Safety committees this week. The group expressed concern that the proposed fix gives law enforcement more opportunity to use prone restraints, which are disproportionately used against students of color and students with disabilities. 

The Legislature in 2020 passed a law prohibiting police from using chokeholds after Floyd’s murder, as well as a law in 2021 that bans correctional officers from using prone restraints on inmates. 

“I don’t understand why you think it is okay to do this to children in schools when we have decided it is too dangerous to do to adults in prisons,” Simon, a sixth grader with autism, said during a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 13, in remarks addressed to Gov. Tim Walz. “My mom talks to me a lot about making good choices, and I know sometimes that is really hard to do. Seems like you have to make a choice whether you are going to listen to cops or kids.”

Republican lawmakers, on the other hand, have their own concerns about the clarification bill. 

During the first House floor session of the year, GOP lawmakers attempted to bring up their own version of the bill for a vote, though the motion failed. Republican Sen. Zack Duckworth of Lakeville said during a Monday news conference that the effort underscores what they’re hearing from schools, law enforcement and parents, and that he’s looking forward to working with DFLers on getting a bill done as soon as possible. 

“I’m glad that Democrats have joined us and in admitting there needs to be a fix, and I’m also glad to see that they’re trying to do something sooner rather than later, given the fact that we didn’t have a special session to address it,” Duckworth told reporters.

GOP Rep. Jeff Witte of Lakeville introduced an amendment in the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee on Feb. 13 that changes the word “shall” to “may” in the statute in an effort to clarify the use of officer discretion to use such holds. The amendment also removes the requirement for the POST Board to create a model policy, arguing that each district should have that duty. The amendment failed on a 6-9 vote. 

The bill was laid over in the committee the night of Feb. 13. Frazier told reporters on Feb. 14 that he expects the bill to make it out of the House Public Safety Committee on Feb. 15, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said it could go to the floor for a vote as soon as next week. 

Editor’s note: Mohamed Ibrahim wrote this story for MinnPost.com. It was originally posted on Feb. 15.

Ibrahim is MinnPost’s environment and public safety reporter. He can be reached at mibrahim@minnpost.com.

MinnPost reporter Peter Callaghan contributed to this article.

MinnPost is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization whose mission is to provide high-quality journalism for people who care about Minnesota.