Policy
- The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's "alert file" called KOPS (Keeping Our Police Safe) enhances officer safety by alerting officers of unsafe situations when encountering a vehicle or person involved in a recent incident by disseminating safety information statewide.
- The standard CJIS (Criminal Justice Information System) queries that check person or vehicle files also hit on KOPS alerts, immediately warning officers of potentially dangerous situations. Officers should respond to the KOPS alerts in the same manner as any other CJIS hits. The message will be accompanied by the caveat "For officer safety purpose only, this is not a warrant."
- If the officers want to relay any message to alert fellow law enforcement officers, they will forward the message, with pertinent information, to their immediate supervisor for approval. Upon approval, the supervisor will forward the message to MECC (Minneapolis Emergency Communication Center) for entry into the KOPS system.
- There are three KOPS alert options available:
- Officer Safety
- Safety to Individual (other than officer), i.e., suicidal person
- Informational
- Alerts may be flagged to indicate when weapons may be involved.
- All KOPS file information is automatically purged from the system after 72 hours except in the case of 12-hour domestic abuse pick up and hold cases.
Definitions
Refer to the Commonly Used Terms page for general definitions.
- Domestic Abuse: Physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury or assault, terroristic threats, criminal sexual conduct, or interference with an emergency call, when committed between family or household members.
- MECC: Minneapolis Emergency Communications Center is the city's 911 center that answers emergency and non-emergency calls and coordinates the appropriate response by public safety services.