Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who was employed to supervise reforms within the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing, selected to resign slightly than face disciplinary motion for interfering with an investigation into his conduct, Mayor Jacob Frey introduced Tuesday.
O’Hara, who led native police in the course of the latest federal immigration crackdown in the city, was beneath investigation on accusations that he was participating in intimate relationships with metropolis staff.
While these allegations have been by no means substantiated, Frey mentioned investigators discovered that O’Hara had interfered with the probe. He is accused of deleting a contact card from his city-issued mobile phone in an try to defend proof and telling one other metropolis worker concerning the investigation after he was instructed to maintain it quiet, in response to a written reprimand obtained by The Associated Press.
The mayor instructed O’Hara he could be disciplined, which may embrace his termination. He selected to resign as a substitute, Frey mentioned.
“It was an extremely painful decision, obviously, but I concluded that that was necessary to maintain public trust, and this was the right way to move forward as a city,” Frey mentioned.
“Trust is not secondary to the job. It is the job,” he added.
The metropolis 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 mentioned. Lor couldn’t touch upon the character of these complaints.
O’Hara didn’t instantly reply to a LinkedIn message in search of 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.
Last 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 Department of Justice beneath President Donald Trump canceled the settlement months later.
O’Hara oversaw the regulation enforcement response to the deadly Annunciation Catholic School shooting final August.
He criticized immigration enforcement techniques in December after a federal agent kneeled on a lady’s again throughout an arrest after which tried to pull her to a automobile. 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 steer the division in the course of the seek for a brand new chief, Frey mentioned.