Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has resigned to avoid disciplinary action after he was found to have interfered with an investigation into his conduct, Mayor Jacob Frey announced on Tuesday.
O’Hara, who led local police during a recent federal immigration crackdown in the city, had been under investigation for accusations of engaging in intimate relationships with city employees.
While those allegations were never substantiated, Frey stated that investigators discovered O’Hara had obstructed the probe.
He is accused of deleting a contact card from his city-issued cell phone to conceal evidence and informing another city employee about the investigation despite being instructed to keep it confidential, according to a written reprimand obtained by The Associated Press.
The mayor informed O’Hara that he would face disciplinary action, potentially including termination. O’Hara chose to resign instead, Frey confirmed.
“It was an extremely painful decision, obviously, but I concluded that that was necessary to maintain public trust, and this was the right way to move forward as a city,” Frey said, adding, “Trust is not secondary to the job. It is the job.”
The city still has 17 open complaints against O’Hara, separate from the investigation that led to his resignation, and these will continue to be investigated, according to the mayor’s office spokesperson Jennifer Lor, who could not comment on their nature.
O’Hara did not immediately respond to a LinkedIn message seeking comment.
O’Hara assumed the chief position in 2022, a time when the department was at the center of a national reckoning over racism and police brutality.
Two years prior, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white officer in Minneapolis, sparking global Black Lives Matter protests and calls to defund the police.
Last year, Minneapolis entered an agreement with the federal government to overhaul its police training and use-of-force policies following Floyd’s murder, though the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump canceled the agreement months later.
O’Hara oversaw the law enforcement response to the deadly Annunciation Catholic School shooting last August.
He also criticized immigration enforcement tactics in December after a federal agent kneeled on a woman’s back during an arrest. Minneapolis police faced scrutiny from various groups during Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, with some believing officers were either assisting or hindering federal agents and protests.
Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell has stepped in to lead the department during the search for a new chief, Frey announced.
