Minneapolis hosts listening sessions to hear what residents want in next police chief

Minneapolis residents want their next police chief to be someone they can trust, who understands the history of the city.

That’s according to the people who came out Tuesday evening to the first listening session the city held to hear what residents want to see in the next Minneapolis police chief. It was hosted by Mayor Jacob Frey and council members Michael Rainville and Elizabeth Shaffer.

Other things residents want to see are better proactive policing and a chief who is a part of the city. Community member Latonya Reeves said she wants the next chief to understand Minneapolis.

“I would like them to know there is trauma here, that there's history here, that there's diverse communities here,” she said. “I would prefer that the chief not come in trying to figure it out that they've done some research and how we got here to kind of give them a head start, so that when they come in and have these conversations with the community, they understand that there is hurt here.”

The search began after former Chief Brian O’Hara resigned in May after allegations he interfered with an investigation into his conduct. However, that didn’t stop residents from praising and thanking him in Tuesday’s session, saying he did a good job representing the community.

A resident from Ward 7 named Chris said a lot of things the police do don't warrant any need for guns, which could help officers deal better with unhoused people. He said the behavioral crisis response has been “a tremendous success.”

“I think the more things we can do like that, property retrieval, a lot of what we do with houseless folks, there's a lot of things we could do with somebody showing up with a little bit of not that officers aren't caring, but they can't retreat and they have a different mentality than a social worker going into a situation, and I would like to see a chief who is willing to say we're going to do the things we have to do excellently,” he said.

A big part of O’Hara’s tenure was how MPD handled the immigration enforcement surge, which saw officers log overtime that sent the department $23 million over budget. One resident wanted officers to have more training in how to work with federal officers and immigration enforcement.

Although it’s a national search for the job, Frey encouraged local officers to apply, and residents did as well, many of whom wanted their local officers to apply to have a chief who’s in the city for the long run.

Vice Chair of the Minneapolis Community Commission on Police Oversight Paul Olsen attended the first session to see what the community wants from their next chief.

“I need to see someone committed to continuing the reform process, making an imprint on the culture of policing in the city, and I think there's been a lot of progress made as we have observed,” Olsen said.

Olsen added the session was a good space for residents to voice opinions or concerns they have.

“I think a lot of people are not fully aware of all the opportunities they have to voice their opinions, and part of that's on us as you know members of the parts of the city that we're not effectively communicating the opportunities,” he said.

Two more sessions will be held Wednesday. More will be scheduled and posted to their website.

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