Minneapolis, Minnesota – Emotions run high in the aftermath of a line of duty death and while family prepares to bury Officer Jamal Mitchell and the community mourns, we have no desire to lean into an open wound. With that said, Minneapolis isn’t just another police department and Officer Mitchell is not just another line of duty death.
Officer Mitchell is a hero that should be remembered for his sacrifice but that does not mean we will forget the environment that his leaders placed him and 493 other Minneapolis Police Officers in. We have written extensively on the cowardly actions of Minneapolis leaders in the past and actions, good or bad, have consequences.
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Minneapolis is down 40% in staffing and those numbers will continue to decline, not as the leaders say, “George Floyd” but what the leaders did in the aftermath of George Floyd and continue to do today.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that his agency deserved a consent decree and that is understandable since he comes from Newark, a consent decree city but we seriously question his motives for the city when he clearly knows the damage that consent decrees do to public safety. In April, he told Harper’s Magazine that some law enforcement training is “very, very tactical” and “the problem is that there’s such a focus in training on being tactical and on officer safety that they’re approaching every situation like it’s a dangerous encounter.”
O’Hara was quick to say that Mitchell’s killer is the only one to blame and we do blame the evil killer. But that does not diminish the role that city leaders have played in creating a more dangerous environment for Minneapolis Police Officers and the community.
Of course there is the rhetoric coming from the mouths of politicians for years.
There’s the crazy policies that have to be seen to be believed.
There’s the cover up from 2020.
And while there is more than we can cover here, there is one issue that must be addressed.
Safety & Staffing
Ultimately, the results of all of this nonsense is what it does to safety and staffing and if that played a role in the death of Officer Mitchell?
Ultimately, that is a question for you to decide but here is what we know.
With record low staffing, the Minneapolis Police Department no longer utilizing two-person cars. They conduct solo patrol and they have implemented “mandatory” overtime.
Chief Brian O’Hara said that Officer Mitchell was working voluntary overtime when he died. Mitchell had worked the day shift and he stayed to work the night shift.
O’Hara told MPR News that staffing and overtime had nothing to do with Mitchell’s death because there were extra police officers downtown but those officers weren’t exactly there to respond to crime or back up area officers. O’Hara said that those extra officers were downtown working at a Timberwolves game.
Those are not assigned “beat” officers. They were likely hired through special assignment to work exclusively at a basketball game.
It’s time to stop playing games and O’Hara seems to be doing everything but taking a hard look at the overall environment that may have contributed to this tragedy.
While Officer Mitchell was first to arrive on scene, and he showed up alone. O’Hara continually denied any of that as being a factor.
“Even if there was another person, another police officer in the car with him, there’s nothing to say that there’s nothing to suggest that would have stopped the ambush,” O’Hara said.
We do not envy Chief O’Hara. He may have the toughest job in America but that does not preclude his responsibility as a leader to evaluate all factors surrounding the current conditions within the Minneapolis Police Department.
As the chief, he alone is responsible for policy, staffing, training, and making sure that citizens are told the truth about all things MPD.
In light of a hero taken far too early, it may be time to take a look at all aspects of the Minneapolis Police Department rather than quickly point the finger elsewhere…because it’s impossible to think that a lack of officers and mandatory overtime had nothing to do with this tragic situation.
