MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis police chief, Mr Brian O’Hara, who drew national attention for taking the reins of a department reeling after the murder of Mr George Floyd, resigned on May 26 after an internal investigation into his conduct, the city announced.
Records obtained by The New York Times showed that Mr O’Hara had received a written reprimand from Mayor Jacob Frey on May 26 for what he described as “serious misconduct”.
An investigative report commissioned by the city found that Mr O’Hara had likely deleted a contact from his phone in 2025 while facing a previous internal investigation into allegations that he had sexual relationships with city workers.
The report found no evidence that Mr O’Hara had engaged in any such relationships, but said the apparent deletion of that contact likely amounted to interference in the initial investigation.
“Your behaviour, as substantiated by the investigation, demonstrates poor judgment, is inconsistent with the level of integrity this role requires, and has made it extraordinarily difficult for you to continue effectively in your role,” Mr Frey wrote in his letter on May 26.
Mr O’Hara did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He joined the department in November 2022 as it struggled with mistrust and a flood of resignations. He inherited a police force in crisis.
A state report released months before his hiring found that the department had engaged in racially discriminatory policing, failed to hold officers accountable for misconduct and used fake social media accounts to target black people and organisations.
Many in Minneapolis doubted whether the department should even exist. Shortly after Mr Floyd’s death, a majority of City Council members backed disbanding the police department. In 2021, Minneapolis voters decided to keep the department, even as many expressed deep dissatisfaction with the way their city had been patrolled.
More recently, Mr O’Hara received extensive national news coverage during a federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota by the Trump administration.
Mr O’Hara arrived in Minneapolis after rising through the ranks of the police department in Newark, New Jersey, where he also served as public safety director and deputy mayor.
In Minneapolis, he was a highly visible police chief who spoke about rebuilding community trust and reinvigorating a department burdened by turnover. In May, Mr Frey had nominated him for a second term leading the police department.
“Chief O’Hara is the right leader for this moment and for this city,” Mr Frey said at the time. “Minneapolis didn’t ask for small steps – we demanded real, measurable change. And under his leadership, that’s exactly what we’ve been seeing.”
Mr Frey said that assistant police chief Katie Blackwell would serve as acting chief, and that there would be a search for a permanent replacement. NYTIMES