Minneapolis police chief aims to be visible advocate for officers — and for reform

One month before Brian O'Hara officially took the job as Minneapolis' police chief, he helped chase down a suspect in the Phillips neighborhood. On foot .

Why it matters: The incident is emblematic of O'Hara's approach to the job — including wanting to be present at crime scenes, he told Axios in an interview.

• He wants to be roused from bed for emergencies. His public advocacy has also won the trust of the rank-and-file, some officers say.

Flashback: As Sgt. Andrew Schroeder showed O'Hara around town in September 2022, they spotted a man they believed to have a gun.

• The future chief threw on Schroeder's vest — way too small for his broad-shouldered frame — and took off after him.

"Maybe it was muscle memory. Suddenly I realized … what the hell am I doing?" O'Hara recalled, laughing.

The big picture: Mayor Jacob Frey has identified the chief — hired for his experience implementing court-ordered police reform in Newark, N.J., as the official most responsible for transforming the Minneapolis Police Department's day-to-day operations.

• O'Hara will also be responsible for managing changes required by a new police union contract set for a vote on July 18.

Context: When O'Hara arrived, he said, he saw "a numbness" in a department that was reacting passively to crime, "like we were the fire department."

• Now in the middle of his second full year on the job, O'Hara is trying to shake MPD out of that stupor.

Between the lines: O'Hara assumed he'd be taking over a department ready for a new type of leader — but after a few months realized, "What people want is progress , no one actually wants change ."

• "They just wanted a different result. They didn't want me to be someone different … They didn't want me to change things and do things in different ways."

O'Hara has already made policy changes to curtail MPD officers' use of force.

• He raised the department's bar for using 40-millimeter foam rounds — so-called less-lethal projectiles that have wounded and blinded protesters .
• He also banned the use of a restraint technique used against Floyd , as well as a related "hobble" device: "I just thought it was inhumane."

Reality check: Faced with historic declines in police officer staffing, O'Hara has the difficult task of replenishing MPD's ranks while remaking the department's approach to policing.

• He has not been immune from scrutiny, including after footage surfaced of an officer whose hiring he had signed off on using a stun gun against an unarmed man at a prior job.
• O'Hara fired the officer, ordered an investigation into MPD's hiring process, and told the Minnesota Reformer he planned to make "substantial process changes" on officer vetting.

What they're saying: Schroeder knows he won't agree with every change O'Hara makes, but trusts him to have officers' backs.

• "He doesn't think he's better than us."

"There is no way that we go through this reform without someone making hard decisions," the MPD veteran of 10 years added, "and I just feel like he's the boss."

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