BCA: 70 "no-knock" search warrants issued since September

After changes to state law requiring reporting surrounding search warrants, starting Sept. 1, 2021, law enforcement agencies are required to report to the state when they request and execute search warrants. 

FOX 9 submitted a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to get access to the data reported by law enforcement agencies so far. Agencies have three months to submit the data to the state, so the information provided is not a complete look at all search warrants executed in this time period.  

Since September 1st, law enforcement agencies report executing 70 "no-knock" search warrants. Of those 70, 49 were executed were executed as no-knock entries. In 11 of the no-knock situations the team on the ground decided to knock and announce. And in 10 cases the search warrants were not executed. 

The information provided includes where these no-knock warrants were executed. 

According to the data reported, 20 no-knock warrants were issued in Minneapolis, eight in St. Cloud, three in Brooklyn Park, three in Brooklyn Center. Two no-knock warrants have been reported in Richfield, New Hope, Pillager and Willow River since Sept. 1. 

Law enforcement report serving one no-knock warrant in this time period in several cities. In many of these cases, multiple no-knock search warrants were issued related to the same investigation. 

The information provided by the BCA does not clearly indicate which law enforcement executed each no-knock warrant. In some cases, for example, no-knock warrants were carried out in Minneapolis, but the law enforcement agency listed was Hennepin County. According to the data, nine out of the 20 no-knock warrants executed in Minneapolis had Hennepin County listed as the involved agency. 

In a meeting on Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey confirmed any changes made to Minneapolis’ no-knock warrant policy would not apply to outside agencies executing no-knock warrants within the city. 

"If not involving the Minneapolis Police Department then yes, the rules we put in place, the moratorium we put in place, and the policies that will ultimately go in place only applies to our jurisdiction here in Minneapolis," Mayor Frey said. 

Taking a look at all search warrant data (not just no-knock warrants) about one-third of executed search warrants are related to weapons violations, 23 percent related to drug offenses, and about 20 percent are related to robberies. 

Taking a look at all search warrant data (not just no-knock warrants) about one third of executed search warrants are related to weapons violations, 23 percent related to drug offenses and about 20 percent are related to robberies. 

The information provided by the BCA also outlines who is subject to reported executed search warrants. According to the data, nearly 74 percent, or nearly three out of every four executed search warrant, involved a person who is Black.

Nearly 74 percent, or nearly three out of every four executed search warrant, involved a person who is Black.