A week before most Minnesota students head back to school, local police departments are removing officers from schools because of a new state law limiting physical restraints that can be used on students.
On Tuesday, Clay and Hennepin County sheriffs, along with Coon Rapids police, announced that they would pull school resource officers from local schools. The moves come after Anoka and St. Louis counties, along with Moorhead Police, said they would also remove school resource officers due to concerns about the law change.
State lawmakers this year approved a broad education bill that bans some physical holds, including prone restraints of students. The law says that school employees and school resource officers can’t physically restrain students in a way that impacts their ability to breathe or voice distress — including holds that put students face down on the ground.
