On Thursday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “National Report,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that the department has lost hundreds of officers since 2020 and while they are working to rebuild the department and have more officers coming, “The only reason we have made progress over the last few years is because of the partnerships we have had, very aggressively prosecuting violent crime, with all of the federal law enforcement and state partners that we have, because, quite frankly, we cannot get through a regular day, dealing with all of the challenges that we have, without all of our law enforcement and community partners.”
Co-host Emma Rechenberg asked, “Final question, and more broadly speaking, to policing in Minneapolis. Obviously, there was a partnership between federal law enforcement and local law enforcement. We saw that in action yesterday. But there had also been reports that, only hours before the shooting at Annunciation took place, there were other shootings within the city of Minneapolis. Is there a shortage of officers, local officers, right now that you’re facing? Are you stretched thin when you’re dealing with crime in Minneapolis? And could there be some additional assistance welcomed, even at a federal level?”
O’Hara responded, “There’s absolutely no question that the Minneapolis Police Department is the lowest staffed of — I would argue — of any major city police department in this country. That’s just a fact. We do have hope on the horizon. We do have dozens and dozens of young people that are in various stages of their training, earning college degrees, and on their way to the academy that are in programs to become police officers. However, it’s going to take time. We’ve lost — this is a 900-person police department, typically, prior to 2020, and we’ve lost well over 500 officers since then. So, we have been in the process of rebuilding.”…