Mayor Frey nominates Police Chief Brian O'Hara to new four-year term

Frey's decision to nominate O'Hara was detailed in a letter sent Wednesday night to Minneapolis City Council members that praised the city's drop in crime under O'Hara's leadership as well as the increased recruitment results, including a 200% increase in applications and what Frey called, "The most diverse department in city history."

"We're currently sitting at 642 officers, up from about 550," Frey said during Tuesday's annual State of the City address. "Next year, we're hoping to reach our charter of 733, with goals of exceeding that to reach more than 800 by the time I leave office."

At a Thursday morning press conference, Frey praised O'Hara for a citywide drop in crime and increased officer recruitment, during what he called a critical moment in the city following Operation Metro Surge and the Annunciation mass shooting.

"I'm proud of the work that Chief O'Hara has done. I'm proud of the work that his police have undergone," Frey said.

As for reform efforts, Frey says despite the feds pulling out of enforcing a consent decree with the city, they continue to enforce it internally, leading to changes within the department.

"So this kind of progress, it's fragile," Frey explained Thursday. "And if you remove our safety leadership at this moment, you don't accelerate reform, you unravel it. You don't build trust by starting over every single time things get hard."

It's unclear if there are enough votes on the 13-member city council for O'Hara to win confirmation, which has been in question for several weeks after Minneapolis City Council members expressed concerns about the department's handling of Operation Metro Surge, and concerns about nearly two-dozen pending misconduct complaints against O'Hara.

Recently, Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette did not receive the votes necessary for confirmation, but Frey vetoed that vote, basically leadng to a stalemate. Barnette remains in his position.