Minneapolis Police taking some heat from the Minneapolis City Council over the number of criminal cases the department has cleared.
Since 2019, the Minneapolis Police Department has seen a 43% drop in the number of investigators. That's just one reason that Chief Deputy of Investigations, Emily Olson, gave for the city's clearance rates not being where they should.
But Olson says other factors also inhibit their ability to do their jobs.
"When public officials say things about the MPD and make judgments early on in investigations, and say that we aren't doing something because of that we are racist. Or that we're homophobic. It hurts our relationship with the community," Olson said.
She says they are also facing challenges with technological difficulties, lack of cooperation from victims, and cooperation in the community.
"As you can see, we have a real staffing issue. I'm not placing it as the cause, but we are drowning in cases," Olson added.
In the hearings, it was revealed that the MPD had relatively high clearance rates with domestic assaults and homicides, both over 70%. But a number of other cases, including sexual conduct, were much lower. Some in single digits.
Several members on the council were concerned with how some of those low clearance rates impacted the community, and trust in the department.