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“Obviously, the Minnesota policy had not been implemented,” Folk said. “There may have been a misunderstanding in terms of federal and state understanding of what was to happen.”
When he insisted on the communication problem, he mentioned that the body camera policy that would have allowed local officers to wear them was being implemented.
“What I heard from our local partners, and what they said publicly, was that they had a special understanding of what they were allowed to do and not allowed to do,” Folk added. . “It was their understanding, maybe there was a communication problem and, if so, we are obviously committed to fixing it.”
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, whose deputy was one of the two who shot and killed Smith, said his office was denied the use of body-worn cameras as he was working with the federal task force on May 25, 2021, during an Operation Safety Net Meet.
“Federal officials told us they still weren’t licensed to use body cameras in Minnesota federal task forces and again said they were ‘working on the problem,'” Fletcher wrote in a report. statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.
Since Smith’s shooting death on June 3, the Ramsey, Hennepin and Anoka County Sheriff’s Offices have withdrawn from the partnership with the US Marshals Service and the North Star Fugitive Task Force.
Four days after the shooting, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a memo calling on federal law enforcement agencies – including the US Marshal Service – to develop and submit a body camera policy to the Department of Justice. Justice before July 7.
“For the first time in the history of the department, this will kind of be the new normal,” Folk said of the Department of Justice’s new policy that will allow federal, state and local officials to wear body cameras. .
As to when the cameras will be on agents, Folk didn’t have a specific date. But, in Fletcher’s statement, he said the Marshals Service noted that it might take some time.
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