Minneapolis City Council approves $7,000 incentive pay for MPD officers who stay loyal
MINNEAPOLIS -- On Thursday morning, the Minneapolis City Council expanded on a one-time bonus pay of $7,000 for MPD employees, both unionized and not, for staying on the force.
It's the city's way of rewarding officers for their loyalty.
In addition to bonus pay for MPD officers, the council also approved accrued vacation time to carry into the end of next year. Since there are staffing shortages, many officers have not been able to use all their paid time off.
In a statement from Mayor Frey to WCCO:
"It's crucial that we recruit and retain community-minded officers and leaders in the MPD. I'm happy the Council passed action today giving equitable incentives to our appointed sworn employees – our MPD leadership deserves to be valued and compensated."
Over the last three years, MPD lost around 300 sworn in officers (information provided by the City of Minneapolis records):
- September 2019: Sworn Officers: 897
- September 2020: Sworn Officers: 841
- September 2021: Sworn Officers: 658
- September 2022: Sworn Officers: 602
This progress by the city council is something that makes Jeanne Harris, a 30 year North Minneapolis resident, hopeful her community will become safer.
The fear of crime can be just as debilitating, and have a negative impact on your entire quality of life," said Harris.
She's thinks an incentive bonus for police is a good use of public funds.
"We appreciate a tangible form of acknowledgment that our job matters, and I don't think we can over emphasize that when it comes to the police," said Harris.
Another item the council voted on was Mayor Frey's police chief nomination. They voted unanimously to approve the nomination of Brian O'Hara to go to a public hearing in the coming weeks.
Something Harris is excited to see progress on.
"We need someone who is aggressive and perhaps has that hard edge to them, where he's going to be no nonsense," said Harris.
Just like she won't give up on growing her vegetables during a dry season, Harris won't give up on this neighborhood.
"North Minneapolis has a lot of potential, they just need a lot of support and people to believe in them and to challenge them," said Harris.
More on the Retention incentive package, click here.
