The Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) is being sued by three undercover police officers and the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) after the POST Board allegedly compromised the names of at least 257 undercover police officers.
Filed in Ramsey County Court, the lawsuit alleges that the POST Board failed to keep the undercover officers’ data private, thus violating the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. In turn, the lawsuit is seeking a jury trial and monetary damages.
The POST Board is a state regulatory body that is responsible for licensing every police officer in Minnesota. The Board sets training standards for law enforcement and can enact rules that all licensed peace officers must follow. Additionally, the agency has the authority to punish law enforcement officers and strip them of their peace officer licenses.
As such, the Board keeps private information about every licensed peace officer in the state.
Like any government agency, the POST Board is subject to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Under that law, private citizens can request and receive any public data relating to the POST Board. However, certain types of data, such as identifying information about undercover police officers, is considered private and not accessible by the public.
Despite this, the lawsuit alleges that the identities of many undercover police officers were compromised in August of 2024 when the POST Board responded to a data request with information that included the names and birth dates of undercover police officers in Minnesota.
The lawsuit states the data requestor uploaded that information to the internet but was unaware that the data they received included the information about undercover officers. That data was also distributed to media outlets, publicized, and accessible to anyone in the world, court documents allege.
According to the lawsuit, the POST Board failed to quickly address the situation and promptly notify the undercover police officers. In one instance, the lawsuit alleges that MPPOA confronted POST Board Executive Director Erik Misselt about the situation, who reportedly responded by saying, “Who told you that?”
“He then assured MPPOA’s senior leadership that the information was pulled down and no longer available, which was false,” the lawsuit claims. Later that same day, Misselt “began to act with much more urgency” upon learning that MPPOA and others in the law enforcement community were aware of the disclosure, the lawsuit says.
Court documents state that the affected undercover officers have become deeply concerned for their safety and the safety of their loved ones. Numerous officers have taken additional measures to protect their families and scrub online information about themselves, the lawsuit states. Officers have also reported sleeplessness, stress, and a loss of any feeling of security.
“We are deeply concerned about the grave consequences of this breach,” said Chris Madel, attorney for the officers. “The identities of these officers were exposed in a colossal violation, endangering not only the officers but also the communities they serve. The stories we are hearing from the affected officers are heartbreaking. These officers have had to change their lives over the last few days out of fear caused by the actions of the POST Board. So many have bravely shared their experiences with us, and we cannot thank them enough.”
Madel has asked the court to certify the legal filing as a class action lawsuit. Should the court consent to this, all of the affected undercover officers could receive monetary damages.
When asked for comment on the lawsuit, the POST Board responded with the following statement:
“Upon becoming aware of the issue, the POST Board promptly notified the data requestor and other recipients of the data of the incident and requested the data be destroyed. The POST Board also promptly notified all affected officers and their Chief Law Enforcement Officers of the incident and the POST Board’s steps to stop any further dissemination of the data. There were approximately 49,000 officers listed in the response and the dataset did not directly reveal or indicate those officers’ statuses as undercover. The POST Board recognizes the sensitivity of this issue. POST has been and will continue to work diligently to address and resolve concerns in connection with this incident.”
The POST Board has not yet filed a legal response to the lawsuit.