Court orders Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to hire more cops or face trial

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has been ordered by a Hennepin County court to increase the city’s police force to the minimum level required by law or face a civil trial if he fails to comply.

The order, issued on Thursday, requires Frey to ensure the Minneapolis Police Department reaches the mandated minimum of 731 sworn officers. The requirement stems from the Minneapolis City Chart, which states that the city must maintain 0.0017 sworn police officers for every resident. Based on the 2020 US Census population of roughly 430,000, that translates to a minimum of 731 officers.

The Minneapolis Police Department has remained below the threshold since before the death of George Floyd in 2020. At the time, the department had nearly 900 sworn officers. But after the unrest in the city that followed Floyd’s death, hundreds of officers left the department, reducing staffing to as few as 539 officers.

The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) filed a lawsuit against Minneapolis in 2020, arguing that the city had failed to staff the legally required minimum. In 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court determined that the city must comply with the requirement, but the city has still failed to comply. As a result, UMLC filed another lawsuit this year to require Frey to hire more officers. 

Last Thursday, a Hennepin County court issued an alternative writ of mandamus, requiring Frey to prove that the city has hired the legal minimum by January 4, 2027. Failure to do so would result in Frey facing a civil trial to see if he has a “valid excuse for nonperformance of this duty.”

UMLC president Doug Seaton applauded the court ruling in a statement, saying, “The City Charter is not optional. The Minnesota Supreme Court already recognized this staffing requirement, and Minneapolis officials have a legal duty to comply. Residents deserve the public safety protections guaranteed under the law.”

According to a report by Alpha News, Minneapolis Communications Director Scott Wasserman confirmed the city has 638 current sworn officers, and 30 recruits are currently going through the police academy.

“There are few police departments working harder to recruit and hire officers than MPD,” Wasserman told the outlet. “We’ve brought on more than 150 officers since the beginning of 2025, applications are up more than 200% since 2023, and we’ve built the most diverse police force in Minneapolis history.”