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Minneapolis City Council approves police contract, pay raise
After each council member made long speeches about their decision, members voted 8-4 to pass it.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council voted Thursday morning to approve the controversial police contract.
After each council member made long speeches about their decision, members voted 8-4 in favor of passing it.
The contract calls for police reforms and a 22% raise in base pay across three years.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says the new contract is needed to recruit and retain officers.
Originally, the council planned to vote on the contract in June but delayed it to allow more time for more public input.
The city has publicly released the full contract. It has also outlined some of the reforms and contractual changes in a news release that include:
Zipper Clause
It is common for parties to a collective bargaining agreement to address issues that arise in the middle of the term of an agreement through one-off letters of agreement (LOAs).
- The City and Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis union (POFM) have, over many decades, entered these LOAs and there has been confusion about which ones were still in effect.
- In this agreement, the parties have re-looked at those LOAs, decided which ones should still exist, and agreed that only the ones that are actually included as part of attached to the main agreement will continue into the future.
- This means the City, the Federation, and the public can know the full scope of what has been agreed to in writing at the start of the term of the contract.
Staffing Flexibilities
In the past, the collective bargaining agreement has controlled multiple aspects of how MPD assigns work, both in terms of shifts and locations and mandated numbers of promotions.
- The new agreement will give management more discretion over job assignments and staffing ratios, so that the Chief and his leadership team can assign officers to areas of the greatest need, and make promotions based on candidate readiness, not based upon a mandated percentage.
- The City also negotiated a change to significantly reduce the period of time it takes to fill vacancies.
Civilian Investigators
Minneapolis has undertaken the work of re-imagining its community safety system, ensuring personnel are being deployed where they’re needed most.
- With fewer sworn personnel serving in MPD, the City has continuously worked to identify opportunities to assign specialized civilian staff to clerical and investigative work, and enable officers to be out on the street and present in community, and more available to address critical needs.
- Through the new agreement, the POFM has agreed that the City can make permanent hires or hire civilians to assist with investigative work.
- By “civilianizing” work that can be completed by a non-sworn employee, the Chief will be able to keep the limited complement of MPD officers focused on critical safety work.
Public Data Requests
Officers will no longer receive automatic notification of the identity of the person requesting public personnel data about them.
Leave Time Period
When there are allegations of severe misconduct, the Chief will have complete discretion to place the officer on paid investigatory leave for up to 180 days. In the past, the Chief only had complete discretion for the first 30 days.
This gives the Chief more flexibility to keep an officer off the street while focusing on the investigation.
This is a developing story. KARE 11 will provide more details as new information becomes available.
The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a plan to shut down the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) on Thursday.
The resolution comes after decades of protests against the massive North Loop trash incinerator that burns roughly 365,000 tons of garbage a year.
“Today is a big step towards protecting the health of our communities and addressing longstanding environmental injustices that disproportionately impact communities of color,” said councilmember Robin Wonsley, in a statement.
The resolution calls for the incinerator to be permanently closed by Dec 31, 2027 and for the entire facility to be shut down by Dec 31, 2033.
The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
In October 2023, the Hennepin County Board signed off on a plan to close the HERC between 2028 and 2040, depending on how quickly the county can transition into a zero-waste system.
Of the garbage burned at the HERC, 75% comes from the city of Minneapolis. The other 25% comes from a dozen other cities in the area. The HERC produces enough energy to power more than 25,000 homes and half the buildings in downtown Minneapolis.
At a City Council Meeting on Oct. 10, Jenni Lansing with the City of Minneapolis Health Department provided analysis on the air pollution impacts of HERC. She said the health department supports working towards a zero-waste future and the ultimate closure of HERC, but said closing it now is not the solution.
“Overall emissions in Hennepin County are dominated by on-road and non-road, mobile and nonpoint sources, and these sources drive the cancer and non-cancer risks to health in Minneapolis,” Lansing said.
Hennepin County defines zero waste as preventing 90% or more of all discarded materials from being landfilled or incinerated.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The snow is really coming down in some places with Maple Lake getting 3.5″ so far.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The wettest Halloween storm ever — is making mischief before little trick-or-treaters hit their neighborhood’s slushy streets.
Officials are reporting several power outages and car spin-outs.
There have been over 14,000 power outages, according to Xcel Energy.
The Minnesota State Patrol has responded to 169 crashes and 94 vehicles off the road, as of 2. pm. Thursday.
Meteorologist Beny Dery said an additional 1 to 2″ of snow is possible before things taper off this evening.
So far some of the totals around town are: 3.5″ Maple Lake, 3.0″ Buffalo, 2.5″ Dassel, 2.4″ Windom, 2.0″ St. Bonifacious, 1.5″ Maple Plain and 1.5″ in Bethel.
The snow is expected to let up from west to east and should wrap up for the metro between 5 to 6 p.m.
Last week, prosecutors charged John Sawchak with attempted 2nd-degree murder and other felony charges after he allegedly shot his neighbor Davis Moturi.
MINNEAPOLIS — Following the shooting between two neighbors, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to request that the city’s auditor conduct an independent investigation into the incidents and cases between Davis Moturi and John Sawchak.
Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor, Sawchak, on Wednesday, Oct. 23 but Minneapolis police did not arrest Sawchak until days later.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara defended not arresting Sawchak sooner, calling it a “high-risk” situation. O’Hara later said the victim, who had complained about harassment from Sawchak for months, was failed by police. Sawchak was arrested this past weekend after an hours-long standoff.
Moturi suffered a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion in the shooting. “Mr. Moturi’s life matters and I’m sorry that for nearly a year, MPD did not treat it like it did,” said Council Member Robin Wonsley in a news release, “Today’s vote affirms that the City Council is committed to taking meaningful actions towards accountability and restoration, starting with this independent review.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released this statement:
“Mayor Frey fully supports an independent review of this incident. The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow. The mayor extends his condolences to Davis Moturi, his wife, Caroline, and their family and friends. The safety of our residents is a top priority and any form of violence or hate speech is completely unacceptable and does not align with who we are as a community. Brian O’Hara will continue to be the Minneapolis Police Chief.”
