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Some police chiefs continue to keep their SROs in schools
Some of the departments keeping SROs in the district include Chaska, Faribault, Minnetonka and Edina.
FARIBAULT, Minn. — There are now at least 40 law enforcement agencies across Minnesota that have pulled school resource officers (SRO) from campuses in recent weeks, Eagan joined the list on Wednesday.
At issue is a new law that limits physical restraints on students.
But there are also at least half dozen or so departments across the metro that are keeping their SROs in place.
One chief admits that decision is a “leap of faith”, but Faribault Police Chief John Sherwin said he still has confidence in his officers.
“To me, this has become a partisan issue,” said Chief Sherwin. “It should be about what’s best for our students, what’s best for our community and it’s all about community safety, and I think in some ways this issue has lost focus on that.”
Chief Sherwin said the city’s two SROs are specially trained in de-escalation and have more than 20 years of experience. He said that only adds to his confidence about keeping them there.
“I couldn’t personally live with myself as a chief if something bad were to happen in our schools and we didn’t have an officer readily available or present,” said Chief Sherwin.
That’s not to say he approves of the new law and is still hopeful Governor Walz will call a special session to clarify it. The law is one that the leader of the National Association of School Resource Officers is questioning and sent his own letter of concern to Walz.
“This is unique,” said the group’s executive director Mo Canady. “We haven’t seen this level of anything like this in any states at this point.”
Canady is a former SRO who helps train, on average, up to 8,000 SROs every year. They’re different from a cop, he says. They are carefully selected for each school and often make a meaningful impact on the students they serve every day.
“It puts law enforcement agencies in a very tough position,” says Canady. “With this law in place now, if the officer violates the letter of the law, now that could pose some difficulties in a chief law enforcement administrator being able to have that officer’s back.”
It’s a risk that some leaders are still willing to take – for now.
“If I didn’t have that confidence or I had some lingering questions, we would have to walk away,” said Chief Sherwin.
KARE 11 confirmed that Walz is meeting with the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, the League of Minnesota Cities, legislative leaders and the Attorney General’s Office Wednesday night about this issue.
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The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says 26-year-old Maleek Conley was indicted on 13 charges in a shooting that killed two and wounded two others on Dec. 3, 2023.
MINNEAPOLIS — The man accused in a shooting that killed two at a Minneapolis tobacco shop now faces two charges of first-degree murder after being indicted by a Hennepin County grand jury.
Maleek Jabril Conley, 26, was already charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting that occurred on Dec. 3, 2023. An employee of Royal Cigar & Tobacco in Dinkytown told responding Minneapolis police officers that a verbal altercation involving a group of men escalated into a fistfight and then gunfire.
Two men, identified as Jamartre Sanders and Bryson Haskell, were killed in the shooting. Two others were shot but survived. Conley was later identified as the gunman by surveillance video.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Friday that a grand jury indicted Conley on 13 charges related to the tobacco store shooting, including first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of first-degree premeditated attempted murder, four counts of second-degree intentional murder, two counts of attempted second-degree intentional murder, and one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
“This was a brutal crime,” Moriarty said in a released statement. “Mr. Conley fired at the victims at close range, killing two people and wounding two others. I am grateful for the service of the grand jury in moving us closer to appropriate accountability for Mr. Conley’s shocking conduct.”
Conley remains in custody at the Hennepin County jail.
The recall of yellow onions from Taylor Farms comes after an outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.
COLORADO, USA — A food service supplier has issued a recall for onions from a Colorado Springs Taylor Farms facility due to possible E. coli contamination, according to a letter provided to 9NEWS by the restaurant chain Illegal Pete’s.
The move by US Foods comes after an outbreak of E. coli that has sickened dozens of people and is blamed for the death of one person in Mesa County. According to health officials, it has been linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. The outbreak’s exact source is unknown, but the focus has been on slivered onions and the beef patties specifically used by the chain for those burgers.
McDonald’s has stopped serving the burgers.
The letter sent on Wednesday from US Food urged its customers, including Illegal Pete’s to immediately stop using the affected products.
RELATED: Food safety attorney: Lawsuits coming against McDonald’s following Colorado E. coli outbreak
It indicated that the products included were yellow onions from Taylor Farms that were either whole or diced. The recalled onions came from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado, a U.S. Foods spokesperson said.
In a statement, Illegal Pete’s said they’re taking the issue seriously and are following all of the instructions in the letter.
They also noted that they don’t use a diced/ sliced white onion product that has been identified as a possible source of E. coli. The company said Taylor Farms issued a blanket recall from a certain lots.
The Centers for Disease Control said as of Tuesday that 49 people in 10 states have gotten sick, including 26 illnesses and one death in Colorado. Nine people have been sickened in Nebraska.
At least 10 of Colorado’s cases were reported in Mesa County in western Colorado, according to the county health department spokeswoman.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the 26 people who have gotten sick in Colorado live in nine counties: Arapahoe, Chaffee, El Paso, Gunnison, Larimer, Mesa, Routt, Teller and Weld. They did not necessarily eat at McDonald’s locations in the counties where they live, the health department said.
The CDC said 10 people across the affected states have been hospitalized. The outbreak also includes a child hospitalized with severe kidney complications.
Everyone interviewed said they ate at McDonald’s before getting sick and specifically mentioned eating a Quarter Pounder hamburger, according to the CDC. The agency said infections were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11.
The author of a popular New York Times opinion piece says parents do themselves and their kids a service by doing less. Is that true?
How do you approach parenting your child?
An article from the New York Times is stirring up a lot of debate around this loaded question. The piece is titled, “Parents Should Ignore Their Children More Often” By Darby Saxbe, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.
The article discusses how in today’s society, children are at the center of our attention and parents are constantly engaging and entertaining them. Parents can feel guilty if kids get bored doing mundane chores, so parents keep them preoccupied with “fun” kid stuff.
Saxbe suggests that parents do themselves and their children a service by doing less. In the article, the professor’s lesson is to let children learn from watching and observing. If kids can learn to tolerate boredom, parents can raise patient, imaginative children.
KARE 11 Sunrise anchor and parent Alicia Lewis decided to look at the differences between “helicopter” and “free-range” parenting styles. Free-range is when parents take a hands-off approach.
Lisa Bunnage, a parenting coach who owns BratBusters Parenting, said most parents try to play the “Pleaser Parent” but there is a time and place for any parenting style.
“If we’re at an airport, I’m a helicopter parent but if it’s at school and they’re having problems with the teacher, maybe they don’t like a teacher or something and I just hands-off, you deal with it. I don’t get involved in that.”
If you’re interested in learning more about parenting styles and the affect they can have on a child, here’s an article from the Mayo Clinic that explains the four types: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and neglectful.
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