Public Safety Bill Makes Doxing a Police Officer a Crime

(KNSI) – Lawmakers passed the Public Safety and Judiciary Bill Wednesday, one of the last bills needed to put the final touches on the $52 billion budget that needs to be passed today to avoid a partial government shutdown.

In the bill is a piece of legislation authored by St. Cloud Representative Dan Wolgamott that would make doxing a police officer a misdemeanor. If the doxing results in bodily harm to an officer or their family, it becomes a gross misdemeanor. Doxing is the act of publicly revealing private information about someone, especially as a form of punishment. That information often includes home addresses and phone numbers. Social Security numbers have also been posted.

Wolgamott says peaceful protests are important to exercising one’s First Amendment rights, but doing so outside the private homes of police officers is going too far.

Last summer, as John Thompson was running for the Minnesota House of Representatives, he and a large group of protesters went to the home of then Minneapolis Police Lieutenant and Union President Bob Kroll and stood with a microphone and laid down an expletive-laden rant in front of Kroll’s neighbors – including young children – and accused Kroll of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan. An effigy of Kroll and his wife were also hung and beaten in their driveway. The couple was not home at the time. Thompson, a Democrat, went on to win his race and now represents District 67A which covers a portion of St. Paul.

Wolgamott, also a Democrat, said, “Our police officers and their families deserve a right to privacy. They should be focused on doing their jobs to keep our communities safe, not worrying about the safety and security of their loved ones.”

Thompson voted no on the bill, saying in a floor debate, “Every time you hear me standing up against police violence, it’s because I want to protect my 13-year-old son from becoming the next victim. This is not a Black against white thing. It’s not a Black folks against blue. This is right against wrong. It’s wrong to keep siccing the police on our community and not be willing to take a look into the things that are going wrong in the policing in this state. I am just sick and tired of being sick and tired because we are going to lose another young man this year because of the inability to act on police reform.”

The bill also enacted new regulations on no-knock warrants, modifications to the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board’s police misconduct database to create an early warning system to keep bad officers off the streets. When responding to a mental health crisis call, it would also require every law enforcement agency to include a referral to mental health crisis teams when one is available. Departments must also have a model policy on confidential informants. The $2.64 billion bill also includes jail safety reforms and funding for community organizations working to prevent crime and perform youth outreach, much like the Community OutPost or COP House in St. Cloud.

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