Brian O'Hara was nominated to be the next Minneapolis police chief. Meeting with the Minneapolis City Council on Wednesday. His nomination comes up for a final vote on November 3.
Mayor Jacob Frey has said the job of Minneapolis Police Chief is “not for the faint of heart” and is an act of courage to want this job. The city has had a very challenging three years with civil unrest in the wake of police officers killing George Floyd, and then the pandemic all contributing to significant attrition within the department.
Thursday, O’Hara spoke to Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News, and said he believes he is here for a reason.
“I think I’m here on purpose,” says O’Hara. “I think things in life happen for a reason. The culmination of all the life experience I’ve had, particularly over the last five years in the city of Newark have prepare me for this moment.”
O’Hara comes to Minneapolis after working as a deputy mayor of police services in Newark, New Jersey. He has a varied background in law enforcement including as New Jersey's public safety director, a role similar to the new Minneapolis commissioner of public safety that is held by Dr. Cedric Alexander. O'Hara would report directly to Alexander and Mayor Frey.
“Newark is a different city from Minneapolis, but certainly it’s similar in very important ways,” explains O’Hara. “The same challenges that are most affecting the residents of this community. Newark is a place that has historically dealt with serious problems around gun violence, and has also deal with serious issues around police-community relations. I think the story of Newark over the last five years is that you can address both of those issues. You don’t have to choose between focusing on addressing and protecting people’s human rights. You can do that and address serious crime in a meaningful, impactful way.”
There is certainly work to be done to reduce crime in Minneapolis, and restore trust from the community. O’Hara says he understands that challenge and believes he can make an impact.
“It is work that that I deeply believe in, and that gives great purpose to my life,” he tells WCCO.
As for initial priorities, O’Hara says there is a clear number one.
“The greatest priory today is addressing gun violence,” O’Hara explains. “I do think that there is a lot of momentum already in place. In terms of law enforcement, I believe it’s a collaborative effort. I’m really encouraged.
I got to meet with U.S. Attorney (Andy) Luger already this week, and I’m realliy encouraged about his dedication, the dedication of all the law enforcement partners here, federal, state, and local, to helping bolster the police department’s efforts in this regard. And to be precise about trying to remove that small percentage of people who are out here pulling triggers and causing serious harm in the community.”
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Another major challenge is recruiting officers. While Mayor Frey has put significant money in his proposed budget for the police department and recruitment, the department has around 300 fewer officers than it did at the time of George Floyd's death. O’Hara notes that it’s important to recruit not just police officers, but officers who live in the city, something the department has been criticized for in past years.
Data prior to the death of Floyd show less than 10% of Minneapolis police officers actually live in the city. The four officers responsible for Floyd’s death all lived outside the city. O’Hara wants to focus recruitment in the Minneapolis community which he says will help change the culture of the department.
“I think the ongoing challenges we have around culture change within the agency and around rebuilding the ranks of the department,” O’Hara says. “I think it’s very important that we invest and that we’re very intentional about trying to recruit residents of this city to be police officers here. To put financial resources towards that, but also to let them know they have an opportunity to be a part of some real change and to do some serious work that is valued and rewarded in this city. I think there’s great momentum towards addressing that.”
O’Hara does add it will take some significant time before the community sees real results of this effort.
Since he was nominated for the role by Mayor Frey, O'Hara has been spending time in the community, and he says his experience will help him build back trust in the department, especially in the African-American communities of the city. During Wednesday’s questioning by the City Council, O’Hara said he was open to looking at whether the city could implement a policy prohibiting employees from joining hate groups as well.
“It’s certainly something I’m familiar with,” says O’Hara. “I come from a very diverse background, grew up in a diverse neighborhood, and the City of Newark is a majority African-American city. So far in my experiences here, I’ve been to African-American communities here, and I can tell you I’ve been incredibly well-received, embraced, shown nothing but love. What I’ve seen here, particularly in the African-American community is that there is a real desire to have policing, to just have good policing. People in this community seem to be most affected both by policing, and by a lot of the problems with serious street crime. And there is a real strong desire to have strong, good, effecting policing, policing that’s respectful and that can be impactful in their neighborhoods. Presence is powerful. I think it’s important as the police chief to be present in all communities throughout the city so that we can ensure we’re doing things that are not only best practices in the law enforcement sense, but we’re doing practices that are informed by what the community values and what they see as priorities.”
Meet Brian O’Hara:
** O’Hara is 43, is married and has two sons
** O’Hara’s wife is a police officer in Newark. She is a Muslim and African American.
** According to O’Hara, she is “working through completing her time in Newark”, and will not be an officer in Minneapolis.
** O’Hara’s sons are Latino.
** His first impression of Minnesota is how much cleaner and more spread out it is compared to the East Coast.
** O’Hara notes that he is an early-riser and likes to exercise first thing in the morning.
** He also describes himself as a 24/7 type of person and plans to be present all seven days of the week as police chief.
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