Public hearing scheduled for MPD chief nominee
Brian O'Hara speaks at a news conference announcing him as the nominee for the next Minneapolis police chief on Sept. 29, 2022. (KSTP-TV)
The Minneapolis City Council will hold a public hearing next week on the city’s police chief nominee.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey nominated Brian O’Hara — the deputy mayor of police services in Newark, N.J. — at the end of last month.
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Community members will now be able to weigh in on O’Hara’s nomination during the council’s hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at City Hall. CLICK HERE to learn how to participate in the meeting.
O’Hara started as a Newark police officer in 2001, became a captain in 2016 and was appointed as the city’s public safety director in 2021. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey hailed his work on cooperative law enforcement and said his practices helped suppress high levels of violent crime in the state, albeit in a city smaller than Minneapolis and with more sworn officers. He also helped lead the implementation of the Department of Justice’s consent decree in the city, something Minneapolis will go through when the DOJ finishes its investigation.
The full Minneapolis City Council will schedule a vote to confirm O’Hara at a later time.