The move comes after strike force officers shredded documents hours after an audit critical of the group was released last week. The FBI is beginning an investigation to determine whether there was criminal wrongdoing, Special Agent E.K. Wilson said Wednesday.
Campion specified it was a preliminary investigation. It will be an inquiry into whether further investigation is needed, Wilson said.
The legislative auditor's report, which said the Gang Strike Force couldn't account for at least $18,126 of forfeited cash and 14 vehicles, didn't find any criminal activity.
The FBI's investigation will cover more than the strike force members' activities the evening of May 20 and will be "on the case in the totality," Wilson said. It wasn't known how long it would take to complete.
Campion said he called the FBI on Tuesday because the Gang Strike Force's credibility had been at issue.
Also Wednesday, Campion announced he has hired former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger and retired FBI agent John Egelhof to implement more than two dozen recommendations in the legislative auditor's report.
They'll also try to determine where the unaccounted-for cash is. They will lead a team of Department of Public Safety staff and begin their work today, Campion said.
Hennepin County sheriff's Capt. Chris Omodt, Gang Strike Force commander, suspended the task force's operations last Thursday after he said Gang Strike Force officers' shredded documents the previous evening. A computer tracking card access to the building also was shut off, Omodt wrote in an e-mail to advisory board members and added his understanding was "this computer is not intended to be powered off."
"I don't believe that there's anything criminal; however, perception is everything and, to me, integrity is everything," Omodt said Wednesday.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Wednesday he "would be enormously surprised if any of those three or four individuals that were there that night did any criminal actions.
"They simply were clearing out their desks, but I welcome the FBI because ... in this political environment, the cleanest way to get a verdict on that is to have the FBI come in," Fletcher said.
At a meeting Wednesday, the Gang Strike Force's advisory board unanimously approved suspending the task force's operations up to July 1, while the internal cleanup is under way.
Campion said May 20, the day the audit was released, that he would withhold the Gang Strike Force's state funding for the rest of the year if improvements aren't made in 30 days. Fletcher asked Campion whether he would consider giving the team until July 1 to complete its work, and the commissioner said he would.
On Tuesday, Ramsey County sheriff's investigators set out to track down the vehicles that couldn't be located in the audit. They said they documented what had happened to them.
Some were turned over to Cars With Heart, which sells and auctions cars for nonprofits; some had gone to Twin Cities Transport & Recovery; and some were returned to the owners, Fletcher said.
Fletcher said Omodt should have tracked down the cars when the legislative auditor's office notified him about them, before the audit was released.
Omodt said Wednesday he gave a list of unaccounted-for cars to Gang Strike Force investigators in April, and they weren't able to produce documentation of where they were, but they provided information about where they thought they had gone. He said he sent that information to the auditor's office.
When Omodt said he got the auditor's final list last week, it had some of the same vehicles on it and "some additional vehicles that I wasn't aware of."
Campion said Wednesday if the vehicles have been found, "that's wonderful," but "it still underscores the fact of what the legislative auditor said and that is there was very messy ... unaccountable bookkeeping."
Legislative Auditor James Nobles said Wednesday he asked the Ramsey County sheriff's office to provide his office with the documentation its investigators found, and Fletcher said they would.
"I've got questions, not answers, here about what the sheriff has said," Nobles said.
The law enforcement leaders at Wednesday's meeting agreed the fight against gangs needs to continue, and they stressed it will be happening at their individual departments while the Gang Strike Force's operations are suspended. They discussed what form the task force would take in the future.
"I think it's time for a reincarnation," said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Michael Davis.
Two of the 13 departments that comprise the Gang Strike Force sent letters last week saying they intended to pull out because of budgetary reasons. Those leaving are eight Minneapolis police officers and a Metro Transit police officer who had been detailed to the 34-officer task force.
"With Minneapolis pulling out, it does raise a question of critical mass," said West St. Paul Police Chief Bud Shaver, advisory board chairman. He said he hoped Minneapolis would become a member again if the city's financial situation improves, and Fletcher suggested it leave one or two officers on the task force.
Minneapolis police Inspector Mike Martin said his department made the decision to withdraw because it was concerned the Gang Strike Force was shifting from short to long-term investigations.
Omodt, who became commander in January, said when he interviewed for the position, he told the advisory board his area of expertise was long-term investigations, but "I never said I would ... make the whole Gang Strike Force a long-term investigative agency."
The struggle is a lot of communities need short-term, quick responses to gang problems, but "that doesn't do a lot to dismantle gangs," Shaver said. "Long-term investigations do that."
St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington said his department is facing budget cuts, and he's going to have to make personnel decisions this summer.
Harrington said he needs an "immediate response team" for gang flash-ups. If the Gang Strike Force "isn't going where it needs to be," he said he would have to decide what to do with the six St. Paul officers assigned to it.
Fletcher said he wouldn't pull his six investigators out of the Gang Strike Force. But he might reduce the number if it moves away from street-level enforcement.
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