April 16, 2004 - Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Rich Stanek resigned under pressure this afternoon in response to an admission 12 years ago that he used racial slurs during his work as a police officer. An African American state lawmaker and several African American community leaders raised questions today about the racial epithets Stanek admitted making during a court deposition in 1992. The renewed attention to the deposition came on the eve of Stanek's scheduled confirmation hearing in the Minnesota Senate. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports.
April 18, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports that searchers found the body of Dru Sjodin in a ditch northwest of Crookston on Saturday, April 17th. The 22-year-old University of North Dakota Student had been missing since November 2003. Police believe she was taken from a Grand Forks mall parking lot by a convicted sex offender.
April 22, 2004 - A committee charged with improving relations between the Minneapolis police department and communities of color last night discussed the return of Rich Stanek to the police force. Stanek resigned his post as the state's Public Safety Commissioner last Friday after a 1992 deposition resurfaced in which Stanek admitted that he used racial slurs to describe people of color. The committee didn't take a formal position, but some members say Stanek should be forgiven for his remarks but should first make amends to the communities he offended.
April 23, 2004 - Minneapolis black leaders met with Police Chief William McManus today in anticipation of former Public Safety Commissioner Rich Stanek's return to the Police Department. Stanek resigned a week ago over his admission in a deposition 12 years ago that he used a racial epithet. He calls opposition to his confirmation to the public safety post 'meanspirited' and says he could've convinced Senators to confirm him if given the chance.
May 11, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports that the arrest of a Hmong St. Paul police officer is the latest development in an investigation into several incidents of violence involving Hmong and Lao residents. Federal law enforcement officials are trying to determine how several recent shootings and arson fires are linked.
May 13, 2004 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports that the involvement of a Hmong police officer in a series of violent incidents is puzzling St. Paul law enforcement officials. Part of the mystery surrounds officer Tou Cha's explanation of why the shell casings found at the scene of a drive-by shooting matched his gun.
May 26, 2004 - The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating the death of a man who died after being subdued and arrested by Minneapolis police officers earlier this morning. Police officers responded to calls about a man who was acting erratically. Police officials say after the man was subdued by officers, the man began having trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The incident will apparently test the recently signed federally mediated agreement between police and community leaders.
June 4, 2004 - The U.S. Justice Department has determined that no federal criminal charges should be filed against two Minneapolis police officers accused of sexually assaulting a suspect last October. Officers Todd Babekuhl and Jeff Jindra were accused of sodomizing Stephen Porter with a toilet plunger handle during a drug raid at a north Minneapolis home. Minneapolis police say the determination means the case is closed. But some community activists say the case isn't necessarily done yet.
June 10, 2004 - In the last two weeks, two men have died after being restrained by police officers, one in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul. In both cases, the police used non-lethal methods to take them into custody. Investigations and autopsy results are pending. Studies show that generally, there's not just one factor that leads to the fatality in these situations. Some say police officers can avoid these kinds of deaths, through better training. But law enforcement officials say police custody deaths are rare and the use of this kind of force is sometimes the only way to handle a violent suspect.
June 11, 2004 - As part of the Mainstreet Radio series “Meth in Minnesota,” MPR’s Tom Post reports on the various new challenges methamphetamine creates for Minneosta law enforcement.