Minneapolis police expect to commit significant focus this year to reforming systemic failures identified by a state study, while also trying to attract new officers to the force.
Reflecting on the past year and outlining goals for 2025, Chief Brian O’Hara said the department is still trying to rebuild after 2020’s mass exodus of officers in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
The department also plans to hire more staff in the new year, including more people of color. A major part of the department’s work in 2025 will be rolling out reforms as part of a court-enforced agreement, or consent decree, between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. New use-of-force policies are expected to roll out this year with new training, O’Hara said.
“I think the city itself is starting to heal,” O’Hara said. “We’re starting to heal not just from the trauma of 2020, but from the trauma of all the violence and the crime that people here have been experiencing over the last few years.”