An early legislative proposal from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association to require data on felonies that go uncharged by county prosecutors is already setting the stage for the 2022 legislative session's debate over public safety policy.

"We are especially concerned that at a time of unprecedented increasing crime rates, prosecutorial policies are failing to hold criminals accountable for their actions," the association's leaders wrote in a letter last month to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.

State Sen. Warren Limmer, the Maple Grove Republican who chairs the Senate's Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, quickly said he would consider the bill: "Clearly the 'soft on crime' approach by Democrat prosecutors is only encouraging the violent crime wave we are suffering."

Choi, in an interview, said he was inclined to support the bill but rejected what he called Limmer's divisive rhetoric. He said his office prioritizes prosecuting violent crimes, and the most common reason some cases aren't charged is insufficient evidence.

"Instead, what I'm a target of is what I would call overt political opportunism," Choi said. "I think [Republicans] are thinking more about their interest of trying to retake the majority or win statewide office than solutions that are going to work and help everybody in the community."