Public Services & Safety

We all want to be safe in our communities and to know that if we reach out for help, it will come. I am proud of the work we have done to fund and expand policing at the state and local level. I am also proud of the progress made to improve law enforcement response to people experiencing mental health crises by helping individuals find needed resources.

I have spent more than 30 years in emergency medical services (recently renewing my EMS license) serving alongside police, as well as 10 years as a volunteer firefighter. Police officers, firefighters, and EMTs have a special place in my heart. We need to ensure that our public servants have adequate training, equipment, financial support, and benefits/pensions. I believe it is also important to note that public service in our communities includes more than emergency medical and fire services. We must recognize the enormous contribution to our communities made by teachers, civil servants, social workers, administrators, maintenance crews, and many, many more who work for us every day. I view these hard-working citizens as family, and I work hard to represent them well in the Legislature.

Thanks to the surplus funds, we were able to initiate several important advances to public safety in 2023 and 2024, including legislation that I authored. We have seen great results across the state. Rosemount, Apple Valley and Eagan gained eight new police officers through ICPOET and Pathways to Policing. And the EMS SPRINT program launched in January 2026 (responders will go directly to the scene while an ambulance is separately dispatched, making for faster response times in rural Minnesota).

As Co-Chair of the Legislative Task Force on Emergency Medical Services, I authored legislation to create a new agency in 2024 to standardize and centralize EMS training, licensing and organization. This agency also provides much needed financial oversight.

Our state and local law enforcement officers are dedicated to protecting and serving our communities. Every encounter should involve mutual respect, due process and adherence to the rule of law. Our officers are focused on enforcing Minnesota laws. Taking on additional tasks to enforce federal actions would divert precious state and local resources, and erode trust within the community.

I also want the public to be safe and to know whether they are engaging with legitimate law enforcement officers. My Bill to require the removal of official decals and markings from vehicles sold to the public and a related Bill requiring that all law enforcement operating in Minnesota be identifiable and unmasked are working their way through the House with limited bi-partisan support. We must not forget that our colleagues were shot in their homes by an individual masquerading as a police officer and wearing a mask. More recently many members of our community have been confronted and arrested by masked federal agents. Those agents lacked and continue to lack identifying insignia. As a result, those who violate civil rights or commit criminal acts may be harder to hold to account.

We all have a part in ensuring public safety. Responsible gun owners exercise common sense and take steps to safely store their weapons, receive training, and prevent access to guns to those who may be struggling. More is needed. I have backed several gun-safety bills this session. There is no reasonable justification for military weapons and high-capacity magazines to be readily available to the public. Mass shooting events – most using weapons designed to maximize victims – have become all too common but cannot become acceptable. Minnesotans’ hearts were broken when school children gathered in prayer at Annunciation last Summer were murdered and seriously injured in another of these too common tragedies. Gun violence must be met with real action .

Highlights:

• New police officers in Apple Valley (3) and Rosemount (3) through the ICPOET (Intensive Comprehensive Peace Officer Education and Training Program) using surplus monies.

• Eagan has two officers in training through the Pathways to Policing program, which was funded by surplus monies.

• SPRINT EMS program launched in January 2026. Response times have significantly improved in Greater Minnesota!

• Roundabout completed on Highway 3 in front of Rosemount High School, improving safety for students and staff.

• Approved “Knoxboxes” giving emergency access to school buildings.

• Improved students’ safety by requiring vehicles stop when school buses’ lights are flashing red.

• Secured $2.2 million to improve the existing Highway52/County Road 42 interchange in Rosemount.

• Saved Rosemount taxpayers’ dollars by partnering with local industry to secure land for Rosemount’s new Police and Public Works Campus which opened in Spring 2025.

• Secured $25 million to renovate the Rosemount Readiness Center where our National Guard members and law enforcement train.

• My legislation created the state agency Office of Emergency Medical Services to ensure financial oversight while centralizing and standardizing EMS licensing, training and inspections of ambulance services. The agency became operational in January 2025.

• Secured millions in funding for the Minnesota Attorney General’s office to hire attorneys and staff to take on complex criminal prosecutions at the request of County Attorneys, whose staffs and resources are already stretched.

• 2023-2024: Increased Local Government Aid and $300 million in Public Safety Aid across Minnesota using surplus monies

  • Rosemount: $1,143,588
  • Apple Valley: $2,464,493
  • Eagan: $3,023,244

• 2025 Judiciary and Public Safety Bill

  • Increased funding for Department of Corrections
  • Victim Services Funding
  • The Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund for training in crisis intervention, mental health crises, conflict management
  • Funding to improve ARMER, the statewide first responder radio network
  • Keeping family contact information private in K-12 schools

• 2023 Judiciary and Public Safety Bill

  • My Bill to invest in body armor for police, fire and EMS personnel
  • My Bills to recruit, train, and serve police, fire and EMS professionals
  • My Bill to mentor high school students for careers in law enforcement/EMS
  • Increased gun safety with Universal Background Checks and Extreme Risk Protection Orders (Red Flag)
  • Created new Community Crime and Violence Prevention Account with $70 million in grants across the state.
  • Creation of Criminal offenses in MN statute for carjacking and organized retail theft.
  • Support for crime victims, new Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls, shorter processing time for sexual assault kits, funding for domestic violence and sexual assault housing, grants for victim services programs.
  • Support for law enforcement with Violent Crime Reduction Support Initiatives within the BCA; law enforcement education, training, and recruitment grants; mental health crisis response teams; and use-of-force training.
  • $49.5 million/year to BCA’s Violent Crime Reduction Strategy to reduce backlogs and improve clearance rates.
  • $5 million for organizations assisting and advocating for victims of sexual assault, crime, domestic violence, and child abuse.
  • Restricting no-knock search warrants, investing in law enforcement education, and training, and mandating body camera release in deadly force incidents.
  • $200 million to the MN Board of Public Defense and $62.6 million to Civil Legal Services
  • The Clean Slate Act and Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act
  • Investment in Minnesota’ probation delivery systems.

• $22.5 Million for new State Police Headquarters.

• Enhanced Ignition Interlocking Requirements for repeat DUI offenders.

• Elevated “straw” gun purchases to a felony.

• Strengthened criminal consequences for identity theft.

• Specifically criminalized carjacking and retail theft.

• Mental Health Funding and a new 988 suicide crisis line.

• Adopted safer speed limit recommendations statewide.