(Alpha News): Around 100 Minneapolis police officers could soon be off duty for weeks to months from an already critically understaffed police department, and just as the city faces a serious public safety crisis with protesters inciting confrontations with the surge of federal agents working in the city.
Multiple sources confided to both Alpha News senior reporter Liz Collin and to Crime Watch Minneapolis that 60 to 100 officers from the Minneapolis Police Department have applied or plan to apply for the state’s new paid leave program. The Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz during the 2023 DFL trifecta and went into effect on the first of this year.
The PFML program allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of medical leave or family leave per year. If someone decides to use a combination of family and medical leave, they can receive benefits for up to 20 weeks.
During that leave, program recipients are paid between 55% and 90% of their regular wages. At present, weekly benefits cannot exceed $1,423 per week. The funding for the program comes from payroll taxes on employers and employees.
The news of MPD officers applying for the program also comes following the acknowledgement in an email last week to officers from the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis that MPD morale is at an all-time low. The email detailed the “dangerously low” staffing levels causing stress and burnout, as well as political rhetoric and “inflammatory statements” from elected officials, which is emboldening hostility toward officers.
The department is already struggling daily to fill shifts, as was revealed this week in copies of emails obtained by Crime Watch showing shift sergeants desperately asking for officers to sign up for overtime to fill shifts.
A source with knowledge of the staffing issues told Crime Watch that last Wednesday, the Third Precinct only had about three officers on duty for day watch, when normally the minimum is about 10 officers.
The department is currently operating with about 600 officers, which is down about 300 officers compared to nearly 900 in 2019, prior to the pandemic lockdowns and the death of George Floyd.
The new paid leave program has no statutory limitations to the number of parties from any one business or entity that can be granted leave all at one time.
The program asks that applicants give their employer a 30-day notice for leave or as soon as reasonable for other unexpected situations. The applications go through an approval process with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
It was reported in the first week of this month that 18,000 people had already applied to the program for leave; that number was up to about 25,000 as of last Monday, according to a CBS report. Original estimates were that the program would see a total of about 130,000 people use the benefit in the first year.
The City of Minneapolis did not respond directly to Alpha News’ request for comment, but did post on social media about the paid leave program on Saturday morning, stating, “…like other gov’ts, we’ve seen a range of employees request approval for paid leave benefits, including MPD.”
The city did not deny the reported number of officers who’ve applied for leave but claimed that about two-thirds of requesters were already on leave at the end of 2025, and that requests are related to pregnancy, newborn bonding, or care for a family member.
The Minneapolis Police Department also has about 150 officers who are currently eligible to retire.
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
