Minneapolis City Council approves new police contract containing historic raises
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council has approved new contracts for the city's police officers with a vote of 8-4.
Minneapolis police will now see some of the highest salaries across Minnesota within a matter of years.
The four council members who voted against approval were Jason Chavez (Ward 9), Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10), Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5) and Robin Wonsley (Ward 2). Jamal Osman (Ward 6) was not present for the vote.
This is all to boost the department's number of officers. Police Chief Brian O'Hara says the department is down about 40% than what would be considered normal.
The contract includes a 21.7% raise over three years. Rookie officers will make more than $90,000 a year, which according to a study from Axios puts Minneapolis among the top three departments in the state behind Blaine and Maplewood.
It also gives management more flexibility in staffing in terms of shifts and locations based on the areas of the greatest need.
Promotions will be based on candidate readiness and not on a mandated percentage.
The department can also hire more civilian employees to help with investigative and clerical work to keep officers on the streets.
Paid leave for officers under investigation will increase from 30 days to 180 days. The city also negotiated a change to significantly reduce the time it takes to fill vacancies.
Following the vote, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O'Hara released a statement and also held a news conference in support of the approval.
"This contract provides the path forward we need," Frey said in a statement. "After more than nine months of tireless negotiations, we have a police contract that will properly compensate our officers for the hard work they do while paving the way to implement long-awaited reforms. This is a good contract, and it was the result of impressive collaboration—incorporating input from community members, police officers and MPD leadership alike."
O'Hara also celebrated the vote.
"I am pleased with the City Council's approval of the contract," O'Hara said. "It sends a strong message to our officers that city leadership supports good policing and the veteran officers who have been loyal in their service to our residents. Despite their dedication, many of our officers have not felt supported in recent years, and I'm confident the historic pay increase will help us recruit and retain the best in our ranks as we continue to rebuild the Minneapolis Police Department into one of the premier law enforcement agencies in our country."
City Council President Elliot Payne, Vice President Aisha Chughtai and other council members spoke at a separate news conference in the afternoon.
"We have heard for decades about the power of the union and the city's inability to hold police accountable as a result of that power," Payne, who represents Ward 1, said. "We have a long history of a failure of leadership of holding officers accountable. And the contract was never going to fix that for us. The solve for that is going to be our mayor and our chief stepping up and having the courage to actually demand the kind of behavior we want to see in our police force. And it's going to be recognized with historical raises."
In addition to approving the contract, Payne said the council also passed a budget that allows for the council to raise police salaries in a "fiscally responsible way." Chughtai noted that the original proposal the chief and mayor put forward cut public safety programs in order to pay for the raises. However by using funds that, as of now, are "not allocated to any purpose" — such as money generated by the local option sales taxes on hotels, downtown food and liquor — Chugtai said the council was able to keep the public safety programming afloat.
"While this contract in itself lacks sufficient and permanent meaningful reforms, I am pleased with the process in which we went about curating this police contract process," said Councilmember Robin Wonsley, who represents Ward 2.
"All of our votes were not the same," Payne said, referring to the split vote on the contract approval. "We are in alignment in holding this department accountable and building the public safety system of the future."
The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis said it was "pleased" the MPD contract was approved.
"The approval process for the police contract has been unlike any other City contract. The men and women of the MPD have gone too long without a contract. They have gone far too long for competitive wages. They have waited far too long for council approval. We believe this contract will help MPD recruit and retain officers and help rebuild the MPD," the federation said in a statement.
The new contract applies retroactively and runs until December 2025.