Minneapolis moves to further restrict no-knock warrants

Minneapolis will seek to prohibit no-knock warrants by requiring officers to announce their presence at least 20 seconds before entering a property, Mayor Jacob Frey announced Monday.

Driving the change: The fatal shooting of Amir Locke by Minneapolis Police Department officers during a Feb. 2 raid on a Minneapolis apartment sparked calls to restrict or ban the surprise search tactics.

Details: Under the new proposal, officers executing a warrant must "continuously knock" and announce their presence for at least 20 seconds during the day and 30 seconds between 8pm and 7am, per a release.

• Frey's office also outlined new guidance for who can approve and conduct higher-risk warrants and called for the creation of a public online dashboard documenting forced entires.

Yes, but: In line with state law, officers can still enter a property immediately if they believe doing so would prevent "imminent" harm, destruction of evidence or escape of a suspect.

• In those cases, the rationale must be "thoroughly" documented.

Flashback: Campaign materials promoting Frey's re-election bid last year claimed he had effectively banned the practice, even though MPD continued to request and gain approval for no-knock warrants under a November 2020 policy change.

• The mayor later said he was too casual with his wording.

What's next: MPD will craft official policy language and solicit public input.

• Frey's office hopes the new rules will be in place within the next month.