Brooklyn Park Discusses No-Knock Warrants, ‘We do it different from what you saw in the video from Minneapolis’
Brooklyn Park City Council member Susan Pha says she was disturbed, as she assumes most people were, when she first saw the video of Minneapolis police barging into an apartment to serve a no-knock warrant. The action resulted in the death of a man named Amir Locke, who was not the subject sought in the warrant.
“I really do believe we must do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening in our own city,” said Pha. “Anytime we see something happen, we can say what is our current policy? How can we learn from that policy so it never happens here?”
In a briefing to the city council on Monday night, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Craig Enevoldsen and Deputy Chief Shane DuPaul talked about how no-knock search warrants are executed.
Brooklyn Park Police: No-knock warrants done differently
Deputy Chief DuPaul said dynamic entry, which uses speed, surprise and continual movement, is the least-used tactic in the city of Brooklyn Park. It was used only once in 2021, and twice in 2020.
“We do it different than what you saw in the video from the city of Minneapolis, but this is the closest we have,” said DuPaul.
Instead, the most-used tactic is called “breach and fade,” where officers gain entry to the house before falling back to a point of cover. Then, police call out to the occupant, even over a PA system from a SWAT truck or squad car to the suspect. Another tactic used is “breach and hold,” where officers breach the door, call out and stay near the door.
“We have found that the breach and fade and breach and hold are the tactics we used the most and had a higher level of success,” said DuPaul. “These tactics were used for barricaded suspects and we’ve developed them over the years to be used to serve warrants rather than just breaching for the door and running inside. We find it safer, more controlled, slow it down, and call them out to us.”
In 2021, the department served a total of 40 warrants and 19 were considered no-knock warrants. There were no injuries recorded to suspects or officers.
Chief discusses future reforms, changes
There are reforms that have been suggested nationwide, particularly after the death of Breonna Taylor who was killed during a raid in Louisville, Kent., in 2020. Chief Craig Enevoldsen briefed the council on the possible reform measures.
“The difference is what does the police department do once they get the door open,” said Enevoldsen. “People saw the video and think that’s how all no-knock warrants work and therefore we need to ban all no-knock warrants.”
Enevoldsen does not believe no-knock warrants should be banned, and is opposed to a reform measure which would require a 30-second waiting period between knocking and announcing your arrival and actually opening the door.
“I don’t believe it’s safer for police or the general public, in some of these cases, for us to pound on the door and say it’s the police, breach the door and wait another 30 seconds,” said Enevoldsen. “A lot of bad things can happen in 30 seconds.”
Council members listened to the presentation and asked questions, saying this was an area of policing that many did not know enough about. Others, like Brooklyn Park City Council member Terry Parks, lamented that every time Minneapolis police make a misstep, ‘we go under the microscope.’
