Minneapolis police hire civilian bureau chiefs to lead internal affairs, constitutional policing efforts
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara announced Monday that he hired two civilians to lead bureaus within the department in what he said marked a "historic change" within the city's police force.
Ayodele Famodu will serve as the chief of the Internal Affairs Bureau and Ganesha Martin as the chief of the Constitutional Policing Bureau. They're the first civilians to hold executive positions within the Minneapolis Police Department. In the past, only sworn officers had taken on the roles.
They will lead the department as it navigates a federal consent decree and a court-ordered settlement agreement with the state of Minnesota. Investigations from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights found city police had engaged in a pattern of race-based discrimination.
O'Hara said he had personally recruited Famodu and Martin, mirroring moves other large cities such as Los Angeles and Philadelphia have made to include civilians among their executive leadership staff.
"These new leaders bring invaluable experience and expertise that will help guide our continued transformation as a forward-thinking, community-focused department," said O'Hara.
Famodu previously worked as the assistant attorney general for the State of Minnesota. In her new role she will oversee all internal investigations and guide the internal affairs division, force investigations team and candidate investigations.
Martin worked as the chief of staff to the Baltimore police commissioner and guided the Baltimore police through federal consent decree compliance from 2015 to 2018.
"It's an honor and privilege to join the Minneapolis Police Department, both sworn-in civilians have committed to restructuring, building, transparency and trust within the community," said Famodu.
"I really try to focus in this work in centering the voices of both police and community. I think that's the only way that you can have sustainable reform," Martin said.
The pair bring a "higher level of expertise than anything the department has had before," O'Hara said.
O'Hara addresses New York Post interview
This week will be five years since the murder of George Floyd by a now-former Minneapolis police officer.
In a recent interview with the New York Post, O'Hara — the former public safety director for Newark, New Jersey — talked about police reforms that have followed Floyd's death, adding that Minneapolis has a "very detached, bourgeois, liberal mentality. It's bizarre."
During Monday's press conference, O'Hara elaborated on his statement.
"I have felt like at times it's almost controversial to even acknowledge that policing in and of itself is essential. That having effective policing is essential," O'Hara said.
In response to the chief's comments, City Council Council President Elliott Payne said, "We have a really diverse community in Minneapolis, and anytime you try to lump people together into one ideological block, you are always going to get it wrong."
