Minneapolis Police Chief Resigns After Meddling In Own Probe
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara resigned after an investigation found he obstructed a probe into his conduct by deleting evidence and breaching confidentiality, with seventeen complaints still pending.
The police chief, who was brought in to lead reform efforts following the George Floyd incident, chose to step down rather than face disciplinary measures that could have included termination, as New York Post reports.
Brian O’Hara had been under investigation over allegations that he engaged in intimate relationships with city employees. While those specific allegations were never proven, investigators determined that O’Hara actively obstructed their inquiry.
According to a written reprimand reviewed by the Associated Press, the police chief allegedly deleted a contact card from his city-issued cellphone in what investigators believe was an attempt to conceal evidence. He also reportedly informed another city employee about the ongoing investigation despite being explicitly instructed to maintain confidentiality.
Mayor Jacob Frey confronted O’Hara with the findings and informed him that disciplinary action would follow. Rather than face those consequences, O’Hara opted to resign.
Trust is not secondary to the job. It is the job, Frey stated when explaining his decision to pursue disciplinary measures against the police chief.
The mayor described his decision to hold O’Hara accountable as extremely painful but necessary to preserve public confidence in the police department and city government.
The situation is far from resolved for the former police chief. According to mayor’s office spokesperson Jennifer Lor, seventeen additional complaints against O’Hara remain open and under investigation. Lor declined to provide details about the nature of those outstanding complaints.
O’Hara assumed the role of Minneapolis Police Chief in 2022, arriving at a department that had become the epicenter of national debates over law enforcement practices. His appointment came two years after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white officer, an incident that sparked Black Lives Matter demonstrations worldwide and fueled calls to defund police departments.
Last year, Minneapolis entered into a federal consent agreement requiring comprehensive reforms to police training and use-of-force policies. However, that agreement was canceled months later by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.
During his tenure, O’Hara oversaw the police response to the fatal shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in August. He also publicly criticized immigration enforcement methods in December after a federal agent was observed kneeling on a woman’s back during an arrest and attempting to drag her to a vehicle.
The Minneapolis Police Department faced pressure from multiple directions during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations, with critics both accusing officers of cooperating with federal agents and of obstructing their efforts.
Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell has been appointed to lead the department on an interim basis while the city conducts a search for O’Hara’s permanent replacement, Frey announced.
With information from New York Post
