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POST Board released identities of 257 undercover police officers, lawsuit alleges

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MINNEAPOLIS — The identities of at least 257 undercover police officers were illegally released by the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards in Training, according to a lawsuit filed by the largest police officer association in the state.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, accuses the POST Board of releasing the names and dates of birth in response to a data request, despite the fact that the information is considered private under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. 

The data request was filed by journalist Tony Webster, who according to a statement asked for police licensing information in an effort to track officers who move between agencies without their disciplinary records following them. 

When he received the information, the POST Board "explicitly told [him] that they had removed undercover officers from the dataset," according to the statement.

The information was then published by a nonprofit news organization in Illinois, and made widely accessible, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses the POST Board of failing to adopt "appropriate security safeguards" and asks the judge to prohibit any further dissemination of the information. It also asks for the POST Board to notify all undercover officers of the release of information. 

The lawsuit argues that the release of information could put the undercover officers "at significant risk of harm or retaliation from criminal organizations or individuals they are investigating." The disclosure could also endanger the officers' family and loved ones.

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