The use of no-knock warrants decreased last year

The use of no-knock warrants in Minnesota decreased by 79 percent in the first full year since state lawmakers passed restrictions on the controversial law enforcement practice, according to the latest Bureau of Criminal Apprehension report.

There were 18 no-knock warrants issued last year and 16 that were carried out. In 2023, 84 were issued. The year before that: 179.

The changed state law, which went into effect in August 2023, set a higher standard for courts to issue the warrants and requires officers to “loudly and understandably” announce their presence before entering.

It came about a year and a half after the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Amir Locke during a no-knock raid. Locke was not a suspect and was asleep on the couch when Minneapolis officers burst in without warning, shooting him within about nine seconds of entering. Police video shows Locke held a gun, which he legally owned, before he was killed.

The shooting brought renewed scrutiny to the use of no-knock warrants, which was part of the national discourse in 2020, after police killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor during a botched no-knock raid in Louisville. Both Locke and Taylor were Black. Advocates of police reform have called for the ban of no-knock warrants, in part because the warrants have disproportionately impacted people of color.

Between 2010 and 2016, 81 civilians and 13 law enforcement officers were killed in no-knock and quick-knock raids across the nation, according to a New York Times investigation. In Minneapolis, no-knock warrants carried out by MPD in the months prior to Locke’s shooting targeted only people of color, a KARE 11 investigation found.

About two months after the fatal shooting of Locke, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced a policy prohibiting Minneapolis police officers from applying for no-knock warrants. The policy also requires officers to wait 20 seconds for occupants to respond before entering during the day and 30 seconds at night, barring “exigent circumstances.”

None of the warrants issued last year were for the Minneapolis Police Department or Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department. In 2023, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department had made the most requests for warrants — requesting 37, with 35 that were issued — but last year, they did not request any.

The department that executed the most warrants, at four, was the Pine County Sheriff’s Office.

Statewide, people of color were the subject of five out of the 19 warrants that were requested last year, according to the BCA.

“Amir is saving lives and he’ll continue to for the existence of the state and the planet,” said Andre Locke, Amir Locke’s father, at a press conference last month. He had been speaking out about MPD’s appointment of Sgt. Mark Hanneman, the officer who shot Locke, to lead use-of-force training. Hanneman was reassigned later that week.

At the press conference, Locke thanked the elected officials who helped push for and pass the restriction on no-knock warrants.

“We didn’t get everything that we wanted, but we got something,” he said. “Something to help save the lives of those that are predominantly affected, which are Black and brown and Native people.”

Some law enforcement groups and officials have criticized bans and restrictions on no-knock warrants, saying they limit the ability of officers to safely do their jobs and gather necessary evidence; others, including the National Tactical Officers Association, have said the practice needs to go.