Once a case is closed, the BCA must review every report, image, audio and video in the file to ensure that information that isn’t public is removed as required under state law, the agency says in response.
The families of five Minnesota men who were killed by police officers announced a lawsuit Thursday to force the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to release its investigative files on their deaths, saying the state agency has failed to comply with Minnesota's open records law. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul, says once the investigation into a deadly force incident is completed and a prosecutor decides not to charge the officers, the data legally should be turned over to the families of the deceased within 10 days of them requesting it.
Five Minnesota families who lost loved ones in recent police shootings are suing the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. They allege that the BCA is withholding data about the investigations that it’s required by law to make public.
The families say they have yet to see the evidence collected by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, despite their cases being closed months ago.