Community leaders welcomed Police Chief Brian O'Hara to Minneapolis on Thursday, listening as he promised a new chapter of cultural change in the police department, to build trust and to tackle crime and violence in the city.
At Minneapolis welcome event, new Police Chief Brian O'Hara promises new chapter of cultural change in department
The multicultural event, filled with pomp and pageantry, marks a new chapter for an embattled Minneapolis Police Department still defined on the national stage by the murder of George Floyd.
November 11, 2022 at 2:16AM
O'Hara took a ceremonial oath of office at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in north Minneapolis in an evening ceremony. His wife Wafiyyah O'Hara, a lieutenant with the Newark, N.J., Police Department, held the Bible, their son Brendan by their side. Speakers ranged from city officials to longtime community activists — all of whom spoke highly of O'Hara and said that change was coming.
"I will use the power of this office to continue to enact changes that benefit the people of our city, our residents, to change the perception of this police department in the community and to build trust in all communities," O'Hara told the crowd of about 140 people, which also included community violence interrupters and a few dozen uniformed police officers from the department.
The multicultural event, filled with pomp and pageantry, marks the start of an effort by city leaders to turn a page at the embattled police department, which is still defined on the national stage by the 2020 murder of George Floyd in custody of a group of officers. Over his three-year term, O'Hara will be tasked with rebuilding the department's depleted ranks, curbing violent crime and implementing a litany of court-mandated reforms, including those required by an anticipated federal consent decree.
Prominent American Indian Movement leader Mike Forcia said the seeds of trust, accountability and change were being planted with O'Hara taking the lead of the department.
Recently, Forcia led O'Hara through the Little Earth community in Minneapolis. They talked about the issues facing the department, Forcia said.
"We told him about our collective experience with the Minneapolis police. I told him I knew what it felt like to have a knee of a Minneapolis cop on my neck," Forcia said. "Then and there he gave us assurances that things would change."
O'Hara, who was formally sworn in Monday, steadily climbed the ranks of the Newark, N.J., Police Department before becoming public safety director and, most recently, deputy mayor.
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