The Bloomington Police Department create new executive protection unit

The Bloomington Police Department created a new executive protection unit amid rising political violence and increasing threats to lawmakers. 

"We are the first police department in the state to have such a unit," said Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges, while speaking to reporters on Thursday. 

Hodges said he first began thinking about more ways to protect public officials after former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home last June. Hodges also mentioned increasing political violence across the United States, with the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last fall and attempts on the life of President Donald Trump.

Some Bloomington officers within the newly created unit trained with the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

Chief Hodges thanked the city for the funding and resources to put together "a very complex unit". He said the officers will conduct threat assessments while providing security for high-profile events and public officials in the city if needed. 

"It also provides us with the opportunity to fully investigate a lot of the threats that take place, and believe it or not, even as Chief of Police, people said they wanted to kill me," Hodges said.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, there were 18 threats against lawmakers reported to State Patrol in 2024. 
That number jumped sharply in 2025, to 93 threats. Already this year in 2026, 78 threats have been reported. 

The increase in threats is top of mind at the state legislature, where the house and the senate have competing plans to fund increased security both at the capitol building and for lawmakers off capitol grounds as needed.