By Steve Neavling
Three county sheriff’s departments in Minnesota are removing deputies from a U.S. Marshals task force until they are allowed to wear body cameras.
The move by Ramsey, Anoka and Hennepin counties comes after two sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a Black man last week while serving on a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force. There was no video footage of the shooting because the deputies had been prevented from wearing body cameras, despite a change in Justice Department policy in October to allow local law enforcement to wear cameras.
Ramsey County became the latest sheriff department to pull deputies from the U.S. Marshal’s North Star Fugitive Task Force until cameras are allowed.
“Neither the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office nor the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office was offered the opportunity to use body cameras until last Friday in the wake of Winston Smith’s death,” Sheriff Fletcher said in a statement issued to KARE 11.
In a new Justice Department memo, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said earlier this week that ATF, FBI and U.S. Marshals agents will soon be required to wear body cameras.
