Top cop of Minneapolis to step down

MINNEAPOLIS (CN) — Minneapolis Chief of Police Medaria Arradondo announced his retirement Monday, wrapping up a 32-year career that ended in his department’s most tumultuous years to date.

Arradondo, who became Minneapolis’ first Black police chief in 2017, said in a press conference that he would not seek a third term as top cop.

“After 32 years of service I believe that now is the right time to allow for new leadership, new perspective, new focus and new hope to lead the department forward in collaboration with our communities,” he told reporters, “and I am confident that the MPD has the leadership in place to advance this critically important work that lies ahead of us."

The chief said he planned to step down in mid-January. Mayor Jacob Frey said he had hoped to convince Arrandondo to stay, and that he would announce an interim chief soon and begin a national search for a permanent replacement. 

Arradondo was first appointed by Mayor Betsy Hodges in the aftermath of the killing of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an Australian national whose shooting by MPD officer Mohamed Noor led to the state’s first-ever murder conviction for an on-the-job police officer and what was then a record-setting $20 million settlement with her family. 

A native of Minneapolis’ South Side, Arradondo joined the department in 1989. He was one of several officers who sued the department in 2007 for racial discrimination, and went on to head its internal affairs unit. At the time of his appointment to chief, he promised bridge-building.

“I will be obligated and dedicated to those communities who don’t feel they have the trust right now, or that trust has been shaken – to restore that,” he told press after his confirmation by the Minneapolis City Council.

Damond’s shooting, however, was soon overshadowed by the May 2020 death of George Floyd at the knee of MPD officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death sparked protests and riots and led to a murder conviction for Chauvin, federal civil rights charges against him and three other officers, and yet another record-breaking settlement with the Floyd family. 

Arradondo condemned Chauvin’s conduct in Floyd’s deadly arrest at his murder trial in April, and took some steps to address department culture in the aftermath of Floyd’s death, including terminating negotiations with the city’s controversial police union leader, Bob Kroll. 

Those didn’t stop a series of other police shootings in 2020 and 2021, including the killing of Dolal Idd on Dec. 30 by MPD officers and the fatal June 3 shooting of Winston Smith in a Minneapolis parking lot by a U.S. Marshals task force with officers from several jurisdictions, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. Protests of both men’s deaths have been ongoing. Police say both had guns. 

The 2021 elections put Arradondo at odds with police reformers who sought to rewrite the city’s charter to change the department’s name, place it in the control of the City Council and remove a requirement that the department employ just over 730 sworn officers. Arradondo spoke out openly against the measure, which prompted an ethics complaint against him but likely aided the measure’s failure. 

Campaign literature and speeches opposing the proposal also raised the possibility of Arradondo’s removal as a reason to reject the ballot measure and vote for the incumbent mayor. Frey was reelected in November, alongside approval of a new “strong-mayor” system and the removal of several pro-reform council members. The policing amendment failed. 

Both Twin Cities will be looking for police chiefs next year. St. Paul Chief Todd Axtell announced last month that he would not seek a second term after the June expiration date of his current term. 

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