Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara is starting his planned overhaul of the department by unveiling a new structure and leadership team.
O'Hara calls the reorganization "unprecedented," beginning with two new deputy chiefs who will oversee two new divisions: Operations and Community Trust.
"Our measure of success will not be some statistic we have officially, our measure of success will be, people in this city feel safer, and more people in this city will feel that they have trust in the MPD, that they've had more positive interaction with cops in this city, and they know our police officers have their backs," says O'Hara.
O'Hara says it's been obvious to him that everyone in the city and in the department wants progress, but has not yet begun to heal following the riots and outrage over the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
"It's been obvious to me that everyone in this city wants progress, everyone here has been through so much, our cops, our residents," O'Hara explained. "Everyone wants to move forward, but what we have not done, is we have not begun to heal.
He says the reorganization announced Monday sends a clear signal internally that they are going to move forward.
"If you look at the amount of gun violence in the city during the summer months, from May until today, we are below the last three years and actually on par with 2019," says O'Hara. "That is a huge achievement, especially when most major U.S. cities can't say that."
The city and police department are currently dealing with a state-enforced consent decree, and are waiting to finalize details of a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that will attempt to reform the police department. A years long investigation found a significant pattern of practice of unconstitutional, or unlawful, policing.
"We are serious about ensuring our residents have their fingerprints on our policies, our trainings and our practices," O'Hara said Monday.
One major change the police department faces in the next month is the departure of Dr. Cedric Alexander, who for the last year has been in charge of that department as the Commissioner of Community Safety. There is no word yet on if that position will be replaced.
