Did the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office adopt a policy to stop prosecuting felonies discovered during all traffic stops?

No Hennepin County the largest in Minnesota will continue to charge felony cases resulting from public-safety traffic stops but is moving away from felony prosecutions from non-public-safety traffic stops The new approach effective Oct applies to cases where charges would be based mainly on unlawful possession and or use of items determined during a stop initiated for things like malfunctioning windshield wipers or a broken taillight While prosecutorial discretion remains in the approach a top county prosecutor must approve any charges resulting from a non-public-safety traffic stop and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis in circumstances that endanger community safety The program aims to redirect tools to dangerous driving including speeding and driving under the influence but the Hennepin County sheriff and other law enforcement leaders have criticized the procedures citing illegal gun seizures that have resulted from traffic stops This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one MinnPost partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs bite-sized fact checks of trending states Nikita Vashisth is a freelance fact brief writer for MinnPost Sources on Hennepin County traffic stops Hennepin County Attorney s Office Plan on Non-Public-Safety Traffic StopsHennepin County Attorney s Office HCAO introduces new strategy comment period on prosecutions stemming from non-public safety traffic stopsMPR News Law enforcement says new traffic stop strategy lowers standards for masses safetyMinnesota House GOP Neighborhood Update Protecting Safety and Partnership in Hennepin County The post Did the Hennepin County Attorney s Office adopt a framework to stop prosecuting felonies discovered during all traffic stops appeared first on MinnPost