March 8 – Police –PO2

Truth Lies and Body Cameras

Speaker:  Assistant City Attorney Nathan N. LaCoursiere

There is a great deal of discussion across the country regarding the benefits and drawbacks of body cameras, but with 120 cameras in the field for the past year, Duluth is in a unique position to take it a step further and demonstrate the “boots-on-the-ground” impact of this emerging technology on both police work and trials (tech issues, costs, retrieval and preservation of evidence, impacts on courtroom dynamics, and so on).  This presentation will focus on the manner in which body cameras are changing police considerations in the field, as well as the approach of prosecutors at trial. 

Speaker:

Assistant City Attorney Nathan N. LaCoursiere handles civil litigation and planning, zoning and development matters for the City of Duluth, Minnesota.

A nationally recognized speaker on emerging issues of municipal law ranging from police body-worn cameras and synthetic drugs to medical marijuana and “sharing economy” regulation (Uber, Airbnb), Mr. LaCoursiere was recognized as one of Minnesota Lawyer’s 2014 “Up and Coming Attorneys” for his role in successfully prosecuting public nuisance actions arising out of the sale of synthetic drugs at the downtown Duluth head shop known as the Last Place on Earth.

Prior to joining the city, Mr. LaCoursiere clerked for the Hon. David R. Minge at the Minnesota Court of Appeals and practiced at the Duluth law firm of Hanft Fride, P.A. Mr. LaCoursiere is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School.