What to expect for MPD Chief O'Hara's reappointment vote after councilors reject community safety commissioner
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said it was "difficult" to be in the room as councilors voted against reappointing Todd Barnette as the commissioner of community safety.
It's possible that O'Hara's anticipated confirmation vote could be equally divisive.
Councilors raised several issues related to the Minneapolis Police Department while discussing Barnette's effectiveness, once again putting a spotlight on O'Hara. Last year, in 2025, the Minneapolis Police Department overspent by about $19.6 million. In January alone, the police department spent $5.2 million responding to Operation Metro Surge, about double the amount of budgeted overtime.
Councilor LaTrisha Vetaw confirmed to WCCO that she is concerned about that spending. She also has concerns about the 22 open conduct complaints against O'Hara; while the number stands out to policing experts, it's also impossible to know what the complaints are about. Under Minnesota state law, they remain sealed unless the Office of Community Safety determines that discipline is required.
Councilor Soren Stevenson joins Vetaw in having misgivings about police spending, though Sorenson acknowledged that he has only worked with O'Hara as a councilor for about three months.
"Police accountability and public safety are core priorities of mine, and I am deeply concerned with the Minneapolis Police Department's overall lack of accountability, need for reform, and the way the department has been overspending and causing shortfalls to the city's budget," Stevenson said, "I look forward to meeting with Chief O'Hara to get to know him, learn more about his vision for MPD, and to hear more from him during the public hearing for his confirmation.
Both Vetaw and Sorenson declined to say how they would vote; Councilors Aurin Chowdhury and Aisha Chughtai declined to comment.
Councilors Jamal Osman and Jamison Whiting, however, are joining Mayor Jacob Frey in voicing their full support for O'Hara. Osman, who voted against Barnette, said that O'Hara has earned the respect of the city.
"He has changed the leadership of the police, we are heading in the right direction," Osman said, stating that he believes the council will ultimately vote for O'Hara's approval.
Other councilors did not return WCCO's request for comment.
Frey said that he wanted to take care of cabinet position nominations first before nominating department heads like O'Hara. He blocked questions about O'Hara's future from reaching the chief directly during Thursday afternoon's press conference, instead reaffirming support and stating that Barnette's fight should not inform what will happen with O'Hara's nomination vote.
O'Hara sat down with WCCO in early April to discuss the spike in car thefts in the city. He took questions on conduct complaints, his future, and the strength of the department.
He believes that the majority of the more recent complaints against him are directly related to Operation Metro Surge. O'Hara was in the national spotlight as an unprecedented number of federal agents arrived in the Twin Cities. His response drew criticism from those who felt Minneapolis police didn't do enough to intervene and from those who felt that O'Hara was encouraging the public to defy federal law enforcement. Just about anyone can submit these complaints, whether they are an officer in his department or a member of the public who lives thousands of miles away from Minneapolis.
"Apparently, since the surge, the number of complaints have doubled, which I think that says something about it right there," O'Hara said.
He touted staffing numbers continuing to improve, with 617 sworn officers on hand as of mid-March. While he acknowledged that there is work to do to reach the city charter minimum of 731 sworn officers, he said that this is the first time that there is consistent positive growth. In December, he said that the unexpected surge in new hires of community service officers helped drive overspending.
"We have both been reforming the police department while we've been rebuilding it. The department has become incredibly diverse in the process and we're getting a huge number of new people coming into the department," O'Hara told WCCO.