Families of people killed suing BCA

Five families of people killed by law enforcement are filing suit against the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The families are represented by Paul Bosman, Chief Counsel of the CUAPB Litigation Unit.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated the deadly force incidents that led to the deaths of their loved ones but has failed to provide the investigatory data to the families. Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Minn. Stat. § 13), families of the deceased are the subjects of the data. Once the investigation is over and a prosecutor has decided not to bring charges against the officers involved, the data must be made available to the families within 10 days of their request. However, families have waited several months to over two years for a response to their data requests. The withholding of these data threatens the ability of families to seek wrongful death lawsuits because the statute of limitations for such suits is three years.
The families suing the BCA are:
• Bayle Gelle, father of Dolal Idd, who was killed by Minneapolis police.
• Jim Shogren, father of Zachary Shogren, who was killed by members of the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force.
• Ovid Sims, father of Okwan Sims, who was killed by Stillwater police.
• Mark and Cindy Sundberg, parents of Tekle Sundberg, who was killed by Minneapolis police.
• Tara Sykes, mother of Brent Alsleben, who was killed by Hutchinson police.