New Regulations for Minnesota Drivers Carrying Firearms

ST. PAUL, MN (trfnews.i234.me) The Minnesota Department of Public Safety unveiled new guidelines today for Minnesota drivers, who carry firearms.
well good afternoon everybody i’m bruce gordon with the minnesota department of public safety thank you for joining us here today and those online watching across the state and country this afternoon we’re here to announce that the minnesota driver’s manual has been updated to include information on what drivers and law enforcement should expect during a traffic stop especially when a driver has a firearm you’re going to hear from several speakers today public safety commissioner john harrington valerie castille advocated for the addition to the manual to help provide consistency during traffic stops she’ll be speaking today her son philando died four years ago today during a traffic stop also with us today assistant commissioner of public safety uh for law enforcement uh booker hodges emma corey is the director of driver in vehicle services here at dps and clarence castille is the uncle of philando castile and a member of the working group on police involved deadly force encounters we’ll begin with commissioner harrington good afternoon i’m john harrington the commissioner of the department of public safety and we’re here today because valerie castillo has had an unending effort to help minnesota’s join other states that decide to educate drivers about traffic stop safety but more importantly than traffic stop safety she’s been absolutely steadfast in helping us understand what’s important in reducing deadly force encounters with police as has been mentioned valerie lost her son philando when he was shot by a law enforcement officer during a traffic stop in falcon heights and during that traffic stop he informed the office that he was legally carrying a firearm that was four years ago today valerie i to say that i’m sorry for your loss goes it can’t ever be enough i can’t imagine the pain that you’ve gone through and i want you to know that i recognize the courage has taken you to relive that pain over and over again as you testified with the deadly force working group as you’ve testified before the senate before you’ve testified before the house and as you’ve continued to champion the cause of safety during 40 years as a cop i’ve made thousands of traffic stops and when you’re on the side of the road walking up to a window to speak to the driver you’re not really sure what you’re going to to find maybe it’s a grandpa who’s just didn’t see that stop sign he rolled through or maybe it’s a drunk driver who’s less than happy about seeing you walk up on him for the driver it’s also a nerve-wracking experience i’ve been stopped and even when you know what to expect it’s there’s an anxiety about getting stopped that everybody that’s ever had a driver’s license can recognize you see the you see those lights in the back in the back river mirror and all of a sudden everything sort of tightens up on you and that happens whether you’re a cop or you’re a civilian but i want you to imagine what it’s like if you don’t know what to expect as we know all too well traffic stops can turn deadly as did the one where philando has still lost his life and one way we believe to reduce the danger is to have a clear understanding of what should happen during a traffic stop both drivers and the officers that stopped them have a role in this and so the the guidance we’re putting out today is is really for both i want you to know that ms castillo brought the idea of updating the driver’s manual to me and the department of public safety so that it could improve the safety for everyone on the side of the road cop and civilian she requested that the driver’s man will be updated to include information on what drivers and peace officers should expect during a traffic stop especially and particularly when the driver has a firearm she wanted to encourage consistency in traffic stops by law enforcement and to make sure that the drivers would know what to do and her recommendations became one of the 28 announced recommendations that the deadly force working group that keith ellison the attorney general and i co-chaired today the driver’s manual has been updated and effective today people will have that information and i want to thank valerie for her efforts in making this happen because i can tell you that it wasn’t on my radar i don’t know if it was on anybody else’s radar at dps when she brought it up i had not known that other states had already done this and and frankly while i was brand new at dps when she brought it up i was a little embarrassed that the state of minnesota hadn’t jumped on this uh after philandro had passed that other states had gotten to this before we had uh did not set well with me what’s the manual tell you it tells you that if uh if you’re a driver and you have a fire in the vehicle to keep your hands on the steering wheel or some place visible when the officer approaches it tells you to tell the officer that you have a firearm in the vehicle tell them where the firearm is located while keeping your hands where they can be seen don’t reach around inside the vehicle don’t get out of the vehicle don’t try and jump out to show us where it’s where the gun is at uh what we want you to do is to stay in the car with your hands someplace we can see them and talk to us tell the officer and let the officer give you directions as to what they should do or what you should do the manual also describes what you as a driver can expect from the cop that stops you on the side of the road you expect the driver to be greeted by the cop and to identify themselves as a peace officer you can expect that they’re going to ask you for your driver’s license and proof of insurance they’re going to tell you why you got stopped and they’re going to check your driver’s license and other documents they may tell you to tell them where the gun is what we want you to do is we want you to keep your hands someplace visible hands are what kills in in this business and so that’s what we want you to do our message to drivers in law enforcement really is we want to make sure that traffic safety doesn’t lead to a personal tragedy the traffic safety is done in the interest of public safety and we see this as guidance to law enforcement so that there is consistency across the state of minnesota we want everyone involved in a traffic stop to walk away safely and at this time i’d like to ask valerie castille to come forward and say a few words uh good afternoon everyone uh thank you for coming my name is valerie castillo and uh my son philando castille was murdered by the police in falcon heights in 2016 july 6 which is today unfortunately is it’s a bittersweet day um it’s been four years now and it seems like yesterday we’re talking about 1461 days that i have not seen my son has not touched my son has not kissed my son and it brings delight that uh the department of public safety has re-updated the driver’s menu because this little tibbett is very very important that bit of information can save lots of lives because you don’t know what you’re gonna get when uh the police walk up to your car you know you know that everything is legitimate you’re legitimate across the board and then you try to be as honest as you can possibly be and tell the truth that there is a weapon in the car and for whatever reason we’ll never know the reason we know the excuse but we don’t know the reason why my son was shot five times i mean you’re sitting in a car with the seat belt on and and that lid is hot baby as far as i understand it you know people that i know that have been shot they say it hurts and and i’m sure my son was frightened looking down the barrel of a gun and he know he hadn’t done anything wrong and you know have a casual conversation and you um respect the authority of the badge and you say sir i have to tell you there is a weapon in the car and for whatever reason he’s not here today and it’s my duty your duty my obligation your obligation to do everything that we can to protect the citizens of this country it’s not a youth thing it’s not a meat thing it’s us thing we have to do everything possible to prevent the killing of citizens in our country and if this can help i pushed it i sure did i made phone calls to different states we’ve visited with other law enforcements we visited with the community to get some feedback on you know what do you think about this do you think it’s something worth giving a shot bad terminology you know but we we’ve done it and and i pray that uh minnesota can be a model for other states the whole united states be a model and and and do these things we all can do better i mean we’ve had these wonderful working groups with all these great recommendations now it’s time to implement them i mean we’ve got we we’ve got some wonderful ideas i mean we’re talking about prosecutors and activists and ex-law enforcement and and just an array of diversity array of diverse people coming to the table and coming up with these great recommendations and it’s time to utilize them you know they’re they’re good ideas they’re doable it’s all about getting that information out a person taking the time to read it and implement some of these things and i just want to uh say thank you to uh the public safety commission and department for being that model and and revising the uh manual and and please you know follow the instruction because we all need to be on the same page we all need to know what to expect from one another