Minnesota law-enforcement groups urge funding for training, mental‑health beds and updates to drone, radio and hiring laws

Members of three statewide law‑enforcement associations told the Minnesota House Public Safety Committee that the Legislature should fund training, increase treatment‑bed capacity for people with mental illness, update drone and radio statutes, and tighten employer cooperation on background checks to address a growing recruitment and retention crisis.

Chair Paul Novotny, chair of the Minnesota House Public Safety Committee, opened the committee by saying the panel’s primary focus will be victims and preventing further crime. He introduced law‑enforcement groups at the first committee hearing and gave them the first opportunity to present legislative priorities.

Shane Myrie, president of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) and a detective with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, told the committee the profession faces a structural imbalance across recruiting, retention and retirement. “MPPOA’s 2024 member survey data shows that 80% of our members indicated that they were either unlikely or very unlikely to recommend the profession to a family member,” Myrie said. He cited post licensing numbers the association tracks — 623 post licenses granted in 2024, down from 670 in 2023 and 706 in 2022 — and said about 130 agencies statewide are hiring and the state is roughly 1,000 officers short.

Myrie and other presenters pointed to increasing assaults on officers. “BCA data showed that in 2017 there were 419…