The board responsible for overseeing police officer licenses in the state is considering a rule change Friday that would ban law enforcement officers from affiliating with white supremacist or hate groups. The changes have been criticized by law enforcement groups and unions, who say the policy is overly broad and could violate officers’ constitutional rights. 

The changes to the rules are intended to give the agency more oversight powers over police officers in the state. Currently, officers typically only lose their licenses when convicted of a crime.  

State Rep. Carlos Mariani of St. Paul said now is the time for Minnesota to catch up with other states across the country. 

"There's no greater threat to our constitutional rights in our nation right now than the resurgence of racial supremacy groups,” Mariani said. “The purpose of such hate groups is precisely to negate the constitutional rights of citizens. There is no room for them to be authorized by the state to be public agents."

As part of its minimum selection standards, the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board has been considering language that would prohibit licenses for officers who participate in hate or extremist groups. It would also create a standard of conduct for officers prohibiting them from undermining the public’s trust by supporting “the activities of white supremacist, hate or extremist group[s] or criminal gang[s].”  

Brian Peters is the executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which represents 10,000 law enforcement officers across the state. While he said his organization didn’t support discriminatory policing, he said at a public hearing last month that the proposed changes were overly broad. 

“The proposed language in the rules will lead to problematic consequences. Groups change, political climates evolve,” Peters said. “This attempt to move from policing peace officers to street actions to approaching the regulation of their thought is troubling, problematic, arbitrary and unlawful.”

Reverend Elijah McDavid III, pastor at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in north Minneapolis, said the state needs to ensure that law enforcement officers treat Minnesotans of all backgrounds fairly. 

"We must make a clear statement that any affiliation or engagement with a white supremacist group or a hate organization should prevent you from service,” McDavid said. “We can only afford to have the best serving here in Minnesota."

Mark Schneider, general counsel of Law Enforcement Labor Services, which is the largest police union in the state, said he believes the board was exceeding its authority in making the new rules.

“Are the rules needed?” Schneider asked. “No, they are not needed. Are they reasonable? No, there is too much uncertainty, subjectivity, overbreadth and ambiguity.”

The proposal is up for consideration at the state POST Board on Friday morning. The board will also consider other changes, including requiring the disclosure of an officer’s previous behavior like lying on the witness stand that could factor into a trial, which prosecutors must turn over to defense teams. Any changes still need to go through judicial review. 

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.