Minneapolis police officer fired after alerting brother he was involved in shooting investigation

An officer with the Minneapolis Police Department was discharged earlier this year, with official reports stating she may have tipped off her brother about a possible police investigation into him.

A review panel and former Police Chief Brian O'Hara investigated five allegations against Chanica Hall, according to official documents on the department's Discipline Decision Dashboard. Those allegations include neglect of duty and violations of the department's code of conduct.

The incident in question occurred last fall, when Hall allegedly sent a shooting-related "attempt to identify" bulletin to her brother.

Hall stated during the investigation the person described as the shooter "resembled" her brother, but she didn't know if it was him. She used her personal phone to send him a photo of the bulletin. 

Police say she did not contact department investigators, adding they believe her actions delayed identifying the suspect. The department also alleges Hall didn't even list her brother in the "family information" section of a pre-employment background packet. She then signed the packet saying that everything in it was true and complete.

Hall would later admit to sending the bulletin to her brother, but maintained she didn't know it wasn't for the public to see, adding "my intent in my head was, honest to God, to tell him to turn himself in if he's doing something."

It was later confirmed the suspect was in fact her brother. He was arrested about seven weeks after the bulletin went out.

O'Hara made the decision to discharge Hall, saying she "put the legitimacy and reputation of the department at risk."

She was also under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for possible criminal charges, but the Hennepin County Attorney's Office ultimately declined to charge her.

Hall was discharged in April, just weeks before O'Hara resigned amid allegations he interfered in an investigation about "sexual intimate relationships" he had with city employees.