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Hello from the State Capitol,
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Last session, legislation was approved that changes what student resources officers (SROs) are allowed to do to de-escalate aggressive situations, taking away tools they can use to keep students and teachers safe. This has resulted in more than 40 law enforcement agencies ? including Blaine?s ? pulling SRO?s from schools across Minnesota.
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This is unacceptable. Student and teacher safety in schools should always be paramount, yet the majority has approved a law that clearly puts them more at risk. Violence has already begun thanks to this ambiguous new policy, and we need to fix this law in a special session before anyone else gets hurt.
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On September 8, disturbing video from Mankato showed a high school student getting beaten by two others. This high school normally would have a school resources officer (SRO) on duty to stop violent outbreaks like this, but law enforcement recently pulled that individual due to concerns over the SRO law passed last session.
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The policy changes what SROs are allowed to do to de-escalate aggressive situations, taking away tools they can use to keep students and teachers safe. Many believe that misapplying the new policy could put an officer at risk for potential legal action. ?
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House and Senate Republicans have urged Governor Walz to call a special session to clarify the SRO language that is now in law. After initially saying he would be open to the idea, the governor has now said he won?t be calling a special session as he is beholden to the radical anti-police wing of the Democrats in the legislature. 44 extremist legislators came out against a special session, preferring to leave the law alone.
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Losing school resources officers is causing significant problems in schools, but sadly too many radical lawmakers from the majority party have no desire to fix them. Republicans are united in support of student and teacher safety and are ready to work with law enforcement to address their concerns with this new law. A special session would allow us to make needed changes.
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Have a good weekend,
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Nolan
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