Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott said he has concerns about recent changes to state laws that might put restrictions on how School Resource Officers, or SRO’s, are able to respond to specific situations that arise, and their ability to restrain students that are acting violently.
Last year a police reform law passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor categorized SROs as school employees, because the officers’ salaries are split between police departments and school districts. Some are then interpreting the law to mean officers working in the schools are bound by the same restrictions as educators and other school employees, which preclude them from restraining a student.
This became problematic at the beginning of the current school year, when a handful of police departments suspended the agreements with their local school districts and removed the SROs from the schools.
Attorney General Keith Ellison attempted to resolve the issue by offering an opinion that all police officers, be they SRO’s or not, all operate under the same guidelines for use of force. However, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarity said she disagreed with the Attorney General, and she would review a School Resource Officer case and make her own decision if they acted under general police guidelines.
Because of the confusion, Elliott said the Northfield SROs are required to call for a standard patrol officer to assist in these situations, and those calls are coming in on a regular basis.
“That happens routinely. Last week there were four calls where officers had to respond in the schools. That’s taking them away from other duties in the community as well. So not only are these situations creating longer response times, but in several of those situations, our SRO was present at the time. They just couldn’t respond the way a patrol officer could.”
The legislature is currently trying to clarify the matter so that police departments know exactly what the school resource officers can and cannot do. A bill in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Elliott said, calls for more SRO training. While all police officers are trained in de-escalation techniques, Elliott said SROs would receive even stronger de-escalation training as well as child physiology and psychology training to ensure that they understand the best ways to deal with kids.
Opinions have come in from all sides about how a School Resource Officer should be allowed to act. Elliott said he is hopeful that legislators will listen to those who currently work in the schools, and that common sense will prevail.
“I’m hopeful that the legislature will listen to current superintendents, building principals, special education folks, and the people who work in that area right now, as well as police officers who are working in the schools, so we can come up with some commonsense answers to the questions that are out there.”
The bill in the Senate cleared its first committee hearing on Wednesday, however it has already stalled in the House of Representatives.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
Drinking water treatment plant could spur more development
On Tuesday night, the Northfield City Council heard a presentation from City Administrator Ben Martig and Utilities Manager Justin Wagner updating them on the status of the drinking water treatment plant project.
Martig said the idea of a treatment plant has been floating around City Hall for the better part of two decades, each year moving a little bit closer to becoming a reality. After a 2021 study revealed higher levels of manganese in the city’s water supply, the water treatment plant was proposed and accepted by the City Council. Land has been, both Bolton & Menk and Barr Engineering have provided design work, and in December of 2022, the city received a federal grant of $25 million, which at that time it was estimated would cover about 75% of the construction costs.
While the city’s water supply meets federal primary drinking water standards, the levels of manganese exceed the secondary standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health. A high manganese level in drinking water has been found to be harmful to infants, as it can cause learning disabilities, notably attention deficit disorder. And while manganese can be regulated by in-home filtration systems, Martig said the city sees the new facility as a more efficient and equitable solution.
“We really want safe, healthy drinking water for all, and in this particular case it’s been determined we can do this collectively more efficiently and make sure everybody has safe drinking water by having it done through an organized and planned system versus individual systems.”
The plant will be built on a 13-acre site that was purchased from Eugene and Elaine Lyman last spring near the water tower on Hall Avenue and is now being annexed from Northfield Township.
Wagner showed the council new renderings of the plant, which he said will be set back from Hall Avenue at a higher elevation, making only the roofline visible from the existing neighborhoods to the west. Additionally, the grounds will be lined with trees and native plants to help the grounds blend with the landscape.
Some of the renderings suggest new housing developments around the treatment plant as well. Martig said Jefferson Parkway will be extended to the east in order to service the plant, and that, he said, will also facilitate further development.
“That’s also a growth area for the city. When we purchased the property, the landowner had a requirement that that a road had to be built in conjunction with the project. There’s interest to eventually develop that land. So that’s a likely area to help fit fill some of our housing needs in our community.”
The City Council is scheduled to discuss cost estimates next month. Martig said final designs will be put before the Council in late April or early may. He said the hope is for the Council to vote on final approval and send the project out for bid in early June.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield City Administrator Ben Martig can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
