By Erin Golden

Star Tribune

The Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training has rejected Gov. Mark Dayton’s recommendation to name a new $12 million police training fund after Philando Castile.

The board voted 8-2 on Thursday to retain the original name of the fund — the Peace Officer Training Assistance Fund — rather than name it after Castile, who was shot and killed by a St. Anthony police officer last year. The eight board members who voted to keep the original name are law enforcement officers, elected officials or representatives of educational institutions. The two others who voted no are the board’s two public members; one of them is Clarence Castile, Philando’s uncle.

Castile was the only POST board member to speak on the issue at Thursday’s meeting. He said naming the fund for his nephew would show community members that police are working to repair relationships that have been strained by recent police shootings.

“It bridges the gap, it renews, it reinstates relationships,” he said. “It’s that olive branch being extended by law enforcement and government saying we want to try to start to rebuild.”

A handful of speakers, including Philando Castile’s mother, Valerie, echoed Clarence Castile’s comments. Some asked the board to delay its vote to ensure that more community members could weigh in on the issue.

The lone speaker in opposition to adding Castile’s name to the fund was the head of the Minneapolis police union, Lt. Bob Kroll. He noted that the board had never named a fund after an individual, including the more than 240 Minnesota law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. He said the governor’s suggestion would divide, rather than unite, Minnesotans.

Kroll said Dayton had made “irresponsible” statements after Castile’s death, and that they ultimately led to the recommendation about putting Castile’s name on teh fund.

“We need to leave politics out of policing,” he said.

Gov. Dayton released a short statement after the board’s vote.

“I stand by my recommendation to name the fund after Philando Castile,” he said, “but I have always known the decision was the POST Board’s to make.”

The POST board is responsible for outlining how local police departments will use the $12 million training fund, which was approved by the state Legislature this year.