Mayor’s pick for new Minneapolis chief to get public hearing

Published 8:28 am Wednesday, August 2, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — The public will get a chance to weigh in on the Minneapolis mayor’s nominee for the next police chief.

On Tuesday, the City Council’s executive committee unanimously approved Mayor Betsy Hodges’ nomination of Medaria Arradondo as chief.

A public hearing is expected to be held Aug. 9. The City Council will then consider Arradondo’s nomination at its Aug. 18 meeting.

Email newsletter signup

Hodges asked the former chief, Janee Harteau, to resign after an officer fatally shot 40-year-old Justine Damond on July 15 after she called 911 to report a possible assault.

Arradondo is currently acting chief. He joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 1989 as a patrol officer and has moved through the ranks. Some say he’d be a good chief, but others have wondered whether an outsider might be better suited to change the department’s culture.