Overview
- The order issued Thursday, June 25 requires Mayor Jacob Frey to bring the Minneapolis Police Department to 731 sworn officers by Jan. 4, 2027 or face a trial in which the court could hold him in contempt.
- City officials say Minneapolis currently has about 638 sworn officers and roughly 30 recruits in the academy, and that the department has hired more than 150 officers since early 2025 with applications up over 200% since 2023.
- The petition to enforce the charter was filed by the Upper Midwest Law Center and rests on a 2022 Minnesota Supreme Court finding that Minneapolis had failed to meet the charter’s staffing mandate.
- The court set follow-up dates on Aug. 11, 2026 and April 27, 2027 and warned that failure to show compliance could lead to an April 2027 trial to determine contempt or other remedies.
- The staffing order reverses a six-year decline that saw MPD fall from nearly 900 officers in early 2019 to about 503 by February 2024, and it raises immediate questions about recruitment momentum after Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s recent resignation and the city’s ability to meet the charter requirement.