Any railroad that intends to employ peace officers must first appoint a chief law enforcement officer, who must also be a peace officer licensed by the POST Board.
byMohamed Ibrahim
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Railroad companies can now employ sworn police officers licensed in Minnesota.
The language allowing for this new type of police force is one of many provisions included in the judiciary and public safety supplemental budget bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz at the end of the session in May. The package includes millions of dollars in grants for services targeting crime victims, as well as changes to statutes ranging from traffic stop reform to law enforcement training requirements.
This month, MinnPost is highlighting a specific provision each week.
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The creation of railroad cops
The rail provision allows railroads to employ police officers who are licensed by the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board to help supplement local law enforcement agencies’ efforts to protect railroad property, employees and passengers. Any railroad that intends to employ peace officers must first appoint a chief law enforcement officer, who must also be a peace officer licensed by the POST Board.
DFL Rep. John Huot of Rosemount, author of the original bill, said he was approached by law enforcement more than a decade ago about issues with jurisdiction when trying to investigate crimes committed on railroad property. Railroad companies employ security officers to monitor company property but when a crime like trespassing, vandalism or tampering with railroad signals occurs on the property and law enforcement is called, cooperation during the investigatory process was difficult, he said.
“The railroad and the local investigators couldn’t share like they normally would in a cooperative investigation because the railroad guys were not sworn officers,” Huot said.
The new statute changes that, and railroad police officers will now have the same powers and privileges as any other licensed police officer in Minnesota when on railroad property. The main difference, however, is that railroad police officers cannot enforce the rules, policies or procedures of the railroad company that employs them if it’s unrelated to a crime, and they also cannot investigate any matter involving civil litigation by or against the railroad.
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“We don’t want Pinkertons – that’s not what we’re looking for,” Huot said, referencing the notorious private security and detective agency of the late 19th and early 20th centuries hired by companies to combat organized labor. “In Minnesota, we have a really strong licensing practice, which means if they do anything that’s outside of the realm of a police officer, the state can take their license and they will lose their jobs. This means that we can hold them accountable and they can’t be doing the railroad’s bidding for them – they know that they are licensed Minnesota peace officers and they have to meet up to that standard.”
The railroad officers’ salaries will be the railroad company’s responsibility, and the statute also establishes that the railroad companies can be held liable for action by the railroad police officers they employ.
The use of railroad cops has spread all over the country, said Jeff Potts, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, and Minnesota was one of a few states that did not allow for licensed railroad officers until the passage of the budget package last month. Though the addition of officers is likely to be between 20 and 25 sworn officers, having railroad-specific police can help free up municipal police departments and provides another resource for communities that have crimes often occur along train tracks, he said.
“A local police department can reach out to the railroad police now, and they can work with them to address issues that range from trespassers to speeding,” Potts said. “Now the local agency has another resource to reach out to and that is those police officers that work for the railroad to help them address those thorny or chronic issues related to the rails.”
Brian Nelson, president of All Aboard Minnesota, a nonprofit group that advocates for more long-distance passenger rail, said it’s unclear how the major railways that go through the state – Amtrak commuter trains, as well as Canadian Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe – will communicate the change to customers.
Nelson said the addition of sworn railroad police officers may give people in major terminals confidence and peace of mind to know that if something happens, railroad police officers have the same authority as other sworn officers across the state. But, he said, he’s not sure it will have a major impact on lawmakers’ willingness to fund more long-distance passenger trains.
“I think that licensed police officers can certainly help mitigate issues and provide the public and lawmakers with peace of mind,” he said. “But I think a major component of it is that passenger rail is successful when it’s added, people are going to use it and it provides mobility and economic benefit back into the communities that it serves.”
Mohamed Ibrahim
Mohamed Ibrahim is MinnPost’s environment and public safety reporter. He can be reached at mibrahim@minnpost.com.
