Ramsey County Sheriff Fletcher has been, without invitation, personally patrolling the streets of Saint Paul. Since mid-year 2020, the Sheriff has been social media to broadcast dash-camera style videos of his “tours” as a crudely-produced reality livestream show called “LIVE On-Patrol”.
Numerous community members have reached out to Saint Paul and Ramsey County with concerns about the legal parameters and implications of the Sheriff’s livestream show. Specifically, the show has recorded Sheriff Fletcher's patrol decisions and actions which have been characterized as reckless and in violation of both the official policies of both Saint Paul Police and Ramsey County Sheriff Departments.
The Sheriff has violated pursuit protocols, has driven dangerously and erratically, and has dismissed requests to call off pursuit. One of the Sheriff’s broadcasts recorded him instructing his assistant to withhold a portion of the recording while he was driving the wrong way up a one-way street, saying, “Keep that off, OK? The wrong way part."
The Sheriff is often patrolling in uniform but not wearing the body camera that both the police and sheriff’s department require as part of patrol uniform. The Sheriff intervened in a domestic violence action without backup support and without body camera, and the Sheriff was injured in the altercation.
In 2020, both Paramount Network (with their show COPS) and A&E Network (with their show LIVE PD) made a decision to cancel similar livestream programs amid nationwide protests against police brutality and stated that they will seek “ways to better tell the stories of the community and police officers".
THEREFORE the Saint Paul City Council requests the State of Minnesota Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Board take appropriate action to determine if the Sheriff’s patrol and pursuits are in violation of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Policy and the MN police code of conduct. We request the POST Board employ an independent industry expert to evaluate the publicly available dash-camera footage of the livestream show as well as the narrative of the Sheriff and the part-time employee who rides in his passenger seat to determine if the Sheriff’s patrol and pursuits are in violation of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Policy and the MN peace officers’ code of conduct.
You can read the full resolution and listen to the discussion during the St Paul City Council meeting from Wed, May 5th, 2021, item #19.
