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Crime, Law and Justice
Feven Gerezgiher

Brooklyn Center police chief to retire just more than a year into role

a person walks past the fence that lines a police department
A person walks past a heavily-fortified Brooklyn Center Police Department as Kimberly Potter’s trial in the killing of Daunte Wright began. Kellace McDaniel, who faced the challenge of implementing the city's plans to public safety when he was appointed months after the shooting, told city officials this week of his impending retirement.
Tim Evans for MPR News 2021

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Brooklyn Center police chief Kellace McDaniel will retire from his role, just more than one year after taking helm of the city’s public safety transformation, according to a police spokesperson.

Police chief in Black uniform
Brooklyn Center Police Chief Kellace McDaniel recently announced that he intends to retire.
City of Brooklyn Center

Local television network CCX media first reported on McDaniel’s upcoming departure on Friday. The news was confirmed on Saturday by the Brooklyn Center Police Department public information officer, commander Tony Gruenig. His retirement would be effective January 2024.

McDaniel, 56, stepped into the role in June 2022 following a 6-month national search to replace former chief Tim Gannon, who left the department after the killing of Daunte Wright by former officer Kimberly Potter in April 2021.

McDaniel previously served with the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office for more than a decade, where he focused heavily on community engagement. Entering the police chief role last year, he said his biggest priority in Brooklyn Center was bringing the police and community back together.

Protestors lined the streets of the northern Twin Cities suburb for days in the aftermath of Wright’s death, prompting an immediate response from the city to commit to alternative solutions to policing. Brooklyn Center, like other departments in the region, has also faced the exodus of several officers since 2020.

Gannon has an ongoing lawsuit against the City of Brooklyn Park alleging he was unfairly given an ultimatum to resign or be terminated by city leadership for not immediately firing Potter.

McDaniel was not immediately available to comment on the circumstances of his retirement to MPR News.

MPR News reporter Nina Moini contributed to this story.