By Drew Evans
Superintendent, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
On January 7, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was notified that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel were involved in a shooting in Minneapolis that resulted in a woman’s death. That morning, after consultation with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, it was decided that the BCA Force Investigations Unit would conduct a joint investigation with the FBI. The BCA responded promptly to the scene and began coordinating investigative work in good faith.
Later that afternoon, the FBI informed the BCA that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had reversed course: the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.
Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation. The BCA Force Investigations Unit was designed to ensure consistency, accountability and public confidence, none of which can be achieved without full cooperation and jurisdictional clarity.
The BCA Force Investigations Unit was created in 2020 by the legislature to provide an independent, consistent and trusted mechanism for investigating use of force incidents involving law enforcement officers. This unit is the result of years of scrutiny, public engagement and bipartisan legislative action following the Deadly Force Encounters Working Group. Minnesotans made it clear that they expect a transparent and thorough process when a peace officer uses deadly force in our state, and the BCA has earned their trust by delivering on that expectation.
We expect the FBI to conduct a thorough and complete investigation and that the full investigative file will be shared with the appropriate prosecutorial authorities at both the state and federal levels.
The BCA remains fully committed to our partnerships to build public trust in use of deadly force investigations. If the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI were to reconsider this approach and express a willingness to resume a joint investigation, the BCA is prepared to reengage in support of our shared goal of public safety in Minnesota.
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