Minneapolis police chief resigns, leaving public safety reform in flux

Minneapolis police are in another leadership transition after Chief Brian O’Hara resigned on May 27, 2026. Mayor Jacob Frey said the move followed findings that O’Hara interfered with an internal investigation, turning what had been a personnel probe into an immediate shake-up at the top of the Minneapolis Police Department.

In the mayor’s account, the underlying allegations were not substantiated, but investigators concluded O’Hara crossed a line by interfering with the probe. AP News reported that Frey said O’Hara chose to resign rather than face discipline that could have included termination. The result is not a long-term solution. It is a fast handoff, with the department needing to keep operating while city leaders decide what comes next.

Who is leading MPD now

The City of Minneapolis now lists Katie Blackwell as acting chief on its police leadership page. That official update matters because it confirms the department is already operating under interim leadership, not waiting for a future appointment to settle the question. The city’s administration page, updated on May 27, 2026, names Blackwell as acting chief and also lists her as assistant chief of operations.

That kind of stopgap leadership can keep day-to-day operations moving, but it does not remove the uncertainty surrounding a department that has spent years under intense scrutiny. Minneapolis police are still working through major reform demands, and the resignation adds another layer of instability to an institution that has already gone through repeated leadership tests.

Why the timing matters for residents

The timing is especially sensitive because public-safety administration in Minneapolis is still being rebuilt. The city recently announced FAST, a specialized MPD unit focused on non-fatal shootings. In its announcement, the city said the unit was created in part because staffing challenges had made those cases harder to investigate consistently. That means the department is trying to manage reform, staffing, and violent-crime response at the same time leadership is changing.

For residents, the practical question is whether this transition slows down reform work or forces the city to reset part of its public-safety strategy. For officers and command staff, it creates a period of uncertainty about priorities, accountability, and the chain of command. For City Hall, it puts pressure on officials to show that public-safety administration can stay steady even when the chief’s chair changes abruptly.

What happens next will likely center on who the city wants to lead MPD permanently, how long Blackwell remains in the acting role, and whether the current reform and staffing agenda stays on schedule. For now, Minneapolis has already moved into the transition. The next phase is figuring out who gets to define it.

Sources

• Associated Press
• City of Minneapolis police chief administration page