Minneapolis Police Celebrate Rebound In Applicants, Recruits As It Welcomes New Hires At first Graduation Ceremony Of The Year

Minneapolis Police Celebrate Rebound In Applicants, Recruits As It Welcomes New Hires At first Graduation Ceremony Of The Year

The department struggled with hiring and retention for years after the murder of George Floyd.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police celebrated 19 new hires at the department's first graduation ceremony of the year on Thursday evening.

Speaking to the newest members of his police force and their families at Sabathani Community Center, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said, "These young people represent the values of our department and the heart of our city."

Recruitment and hiring at the department has come a long way since he first accepted the role of chief in 2022, O'Hara said. "When I first got here, the odds were very, very clearly stacked against us."

After struggling with retention and recruitment for years after the murder of George Floyd, O'Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said hiring at the department is rebounding. For the first time in five years, the department ended 2024 with a net increase of new hires, according to the city. In 2024, the police department welcomed 76 new hires and saw a 133% increase in applications, a city spokesperson said in a news release.

"We have people that want to join the Minneapolis Police department now because they want to be part of the change. They understand that something special is happening," Frey said ahead of the graduation ceremony on Thursday.

"Not only are they people from communities that have not been well represented here in the past, but they're also the sons and daughters of current police officers," O'Hara added.

Community Service Officer Lila Hanson, who was hired roughly six months ago, was in the audience Thursday evening. She hopes she, too, will soon be walking across the stage as a sworn police officer.

"There is no other place that I would rather be and there's no other community that I'd rather serve," Hanson said. She comes from a family with a long history of being in law enforcement, including her father, mother, stepmother and grandfather, who all worked or are currently working for Minneapolis Police. Hanson's grandfather Bruce Hanson was one of the first community service officers in Minneapolis.

"Every single day, I think about being able to share the same uniform that my family wears. Just being able to call myself a police officer, it's truly going to be a dream come true," Hanson said.

According to O'Hara, the Minneapolis Police Department currently has 580 sworn members. He said the minimum required is 731. "We have 85 young people in the pipeline, dozens more coming," O'Hara added. "The problem is it takes time. They are all at varying levels of stages of their schooling.

Minneapolis Police has been operating under a court-mandated state agreement since 2023, which ordered sweeping reforms after an investigation accused the department of a pattern of racial discrimination.

In January, Minneapolis Police and the Department of Justice came to an agreement on a consent decree to implement more changes, but that agreement has been halted after the Trump administration issued a pause on civil litigation at the DOJ.

SOURCE: KARE 11