MINNEAPOLIS — The number of people applying to the Minneapolis Police Department is up – as of Tuesday morning, that number is up 78% year to date compared to last year. With 1,125 applicants, that seems like a number that would excite the department.
Instead, Chief Brian O'Hara says it's not nearly enough.
"We will hire more people for sworn positions this year than what we will lose," O'Hara said. "But the problem is, it's not good enough."
"We need to be hiring at least 100 people a year in order to maintain the police department and have a slight increase each year," he continued.
Despite all those applications, O'Hara says they've hired 60 people so far this year – something he says is the most number of people they've hired in close to 10 years.
"While we are seeing the increase in applications, we are not seeing as great an increase as we should be in people that are then being forwarded to us to be hired onto the police department," he said. "And that's very concerning."
The chief puts that on their hiring process – something he says needs to change.
"The way the system traditionally has operated is not conducive to the reality of what is needed to get the best candidates in the door. The reality is people can apply here today, they can change their mind next week, and there's options, endless, endless options in policing around this state," O'Hara said.
O'Hara says he wants to focus more on keeping applicants engaged throughout the hiring process.
"If we want to get those folks that are considering Minneapolis, we have to stay on them and reassure them and make sure we hold on to them until we actually get them in the door and get them in a position," he said.
Applicant data came from a city auditor's report. In that report, diversity among candidates is also discussed.
Of those 1,125 candidates, 85% are male and 15% are female. 64% are minority candidates.
"We need to better target some of our underrepresented communities in the city for the police department, and in particular, you know, the Native and Latino communities," O'Hara said. "We've had tremendous increases in applications, and the vast majority of them are minority applicants."