Minneapolis council rejects incentives for MPD officers
The Minneapolis City Council in a special meeting Friday voted down a proposal to spend $15.3 million to recruit and retain Minneapolis police officers.
The meeting was at times heated between members and the mayor, with at least one outburst from a spectator in the council chambers. Council President Andrea Jenkins demanded decorum from council members on multiple occasions and reprimanded Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw for using profanity during her remarks.
The proposal supported by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey would have offered $18,000 retention incentives for existing officers for the next two and half years and $15,000 for recruits over the next three years. In exchange, the Police Officers Federation had agreed to give the police chief the ability to fill officer vacancies more quickly.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the department needs help hiring and retaining officers. City staff said the police force is down about 38 percent from the 731 sworn police officers required by the city charter.
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“I believe that Minnesota is probably the most difficult place in this country to become a police officer,” said O'Hara. “I also think that the crisis that we have in staffing is also an opportunity. If we are able to fill these ranks, with more diverse people … we have a real opportunity.”
Frey and members of his administration argued that the incentives will help stem the exodus of police officers from the city. City staff testified that incentives for officer hiring in the Twin Cities range from $500 to $10,000.
“Officer incentives are one part of the overall equation,” Frey said. “Will incentives alone fix this problem? The answer is, of course, no. But the claim that these incentives make no difference, it defies best practice, it defies the guidance, and it defies common sense.”
Some Minneapolis council members argued that there’s no proof that incentives work. Council Member Emily Koski said she supports more pay for officers but that the mayor’s administration is using the low staffing levels to manipulate the council into approving the agreement before it can be vetted.
“I believe it’s an effort to politicize public safety to scare us,” Koski said. “I will not bow to fear or manipulation tactics.”
Council Member Lisa Goodman questioned whether rejecting the proposal could lead to more litigation for the city, which is required by a Minnesota Supreme Court decision to attempt to fully staff the police department.
Goodman said the spending was a way to try to convince “good people who work in the department” to stay, and suggested some officers may have left the department “because of the way they've been treated on this dais by elected officials."
The agreement over incentives was publicly announced last Friday. The council budget committee voted on Tuesday not to add the agreement to its agenda, which spurred the mayor to call a special meeting to consider the agreement Friday.
Council Member Jeremiah Ellison said the process for considering the agreement hasn’t been collaborative but noted that council members have said they’re willing to work with the mayor’s office on retention incentives or signing bonuses.
Council Member Michael Rainville urged his colleague to take “a little baby step” in addressing the police labor shortage, telling them not to “allow abolition through attrition.”
The negotiated agreement between the city and the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis would have utilized most of a $19 million one-time state public safety allotted to Minneapolis at the State Legislature last session. Council Members said they got little notice of the agreement and that they are already conceiving amendments for that funding.
The council voted 8-5 to reject the agreement.
Council Members Jeremiah Ellison, Robin Wonsley, Elliott Payne, Andrew Johnson, Aisha Chughtai, Jamal Osman, Emily Koski and Jason Chavez voted against the agreement.
Council Members Andrea Jenkins, Linea Palmisano, Lisa Goodman, Michael Rainville and LaTrisha Vetaw voted for the proposal.
Negotiations over the Minneapolis police union’s contract started in September and are ongoing. City staff said this provision could go back to the bargaining table.