Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who was employed to supervise reforms within the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing, selected to resign relatively than face disciplinary motion for interfering with an investigation into his conduct, Mayor Jacob Frey introduced Tuesday.
O’Hara, who led native police throughout the current federal immigration crackdown within the metropolis, was beneath investigation on accusations that he was participating in intimate relationships with metropolis workers.
Whereas these allegations have been by no means substantiated, Frey stated investigators discovered that O’Hara had interfered with the probe.
He’s accused of deleting a contact card from his city-issued cellphone in an try to protect proof and telling one other metropolis worker in regards to the investigation after he was instructed to maintain it quiet, in accordance with a written reprimand obtained by The Related Press.
The mayor advised O’Hara he can be disciplined, which might embody his termination. He selected to resign as a substitute, Frey stated.
“It was a particularly painful choice, clearly, however I concluded that that was mandatory to take care of public belief, and this was the correct approach to transfer ahead as a metropolis,” Frey stated.
“Belief shouldn’t be secondary to the job. It’s the job,” he added.
Town nonetheless has 17 open complaints towards O’Hara — separate from the investigation that resulted in disciplinary motion — and can proceed investigating, mayor’s workplace spokesperson Jennifer Lor stated. Lor couldn’t touch upon the character of these complaints.
O’Hara didn’t instantly reply to a LinkedIn message searching for remark.
O’Hara turned the chief in 2022 because the division was on the heart of a nationwide reckoning over racism and brutality in policing. Two years prior, Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white officer in Minneapolis, igniting world Black Lives Matter protests and calls to defund the police.
Final 12 months, Minneapolis entered an settlement with the federal authorities to overtake its police coaching and use-of-force insurance policies within the wake Floyd’s homicide.
The US Division of Justice beneath President Donald Trump canceled the settlement months later.
O’Hara oversaw the regulation enforcement response to the lethal Annunciation Catholic Faculty capturing final August.
He criticized immigration enforcement ways in December after a federal agent kneeled on a girl’s again throughout an arrest after which tried to tug her to a automotive.
Minneapolis police confronted scrutiny from all sides throughout Trump’s immigration crackdown by individuals who thought the officers have been serving to or hindering federal brokers and protests.
Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell has stepped in to guide the division throughout the seek for a brand new chief, Frey stated.
